Moon of Tomorrow
by Dreylen
Summary: Book four of the True Gaia series. After the fall of Terra, what is there left to do? Well, as it turns out, a fair amount. Preparing for the end of the world isn't easy, after all. OC/OC
1. End of an Age

**Author's Note:** I have to admit, figuring out what to do with this section of the story was a challenge. There isn't a whole lot to the fourth disk, besides Memoria and a few side missions. There's only a few things that I haven't wrapped up with the additions I've made tot he story, too.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 1: Mourning the Sky

After a few days of rest in the mountains and a stop by the black mage village to see that the Genomes were settling in just fine, it was largely agreed that they needed to head to Lindblum to gather supplies. Drake's father had taken the totem with the wolf's image on inside the lodge to carve it as they were leaving the mountaintop, which was in itself a way of preparing things there for the chief to retire. Of course, Zidane's little sister, Mikoto, had needed to express her pessimistic opinion on their chances of survival to everyone.

Drake didn't agree with Dagger much on not telling Regent Cid about what they were planning on doing, but he didn't speak up about it. He already knew that the man would find out one way or another, and come to their aid when they needed it most. He just kept busy, shuffling around some of the benches and the like that had been given to them so that they had some furniture in the Invincible. He still thought it looked a little odd, seeing handcarved wood against smooth, sterile lines.

No one seemed bothered that Drake was finding busywork for himself, though he couldn't hide it from himself that it was mostly to alleviate his anxiety about riding on what his brain equated to a nuclear bomb. At the very least, the ship looked better than it had before.

More than once, Drake thought back on the view of the Iifa Tree that he'd seen from the mountains. There was a growing ball of something above it, and Drake didn't doubt that it was Kuja's work. He'd have missed it if not for the fact that it was dusk, and it was emitting light. Whatever Kuja was planning, it would take time. Time that they could use to prepare.

Dagger insisted that they stop by Alexandria once they were at the Mist Continent, and Drake almost sighed at that. Still, he accompanied Dagger and Steiner to the ruined city. The others busied themselves with helping some of the construction, though Odette and Eiko helped with healing those that were sick from unhealthy living conditions.

"Your Grace, have you need for help with anything?" Drake sighed quietly through his nose as he heard one of the soldiers fluttering behind him. It was one of the female soldiers, so he had a feeling that she was generally uncertain of how to treat him, thanks to the fact that most male warriors she'd encountered were incompetent.

"No, I don't need any help, but thank you for asking." Drake kept his voice calm as he looked over the castle rubble, trying to figure out where everything had once been. There were a couple of towers still standing, so he had a point of reference, but it was still quite hard to picture a once magnificent palace where there was now rubble.

Drake waited until the soldier walked away before sighing and rubbing his eyes. This almost felt like an insurmountable task, and he didn't even have anything to do with it. There were people working nearby, and what looked like an architect from Lindblum. Dagger was looking over his shoulder and talking to him while Steiner stood on guard nearby. At least the problem he had with Treno was more of a social one, not a physical one.

"Your Grace, I was not expecting to see you here." Drake started at that voice, recognizing it. When he turned to look at Beatrix, she was smiling wryly. "It has certainly been quite a while since we saw each other last. I am glad to see you well." Drake scratched the back of his head, smiling slightly.

"I'm glad to be well. You're recovering from your injuries, I hope?" The general had been badly injured in the destruction of Alexandria. Drake had a feeling that it was the only reason she hadn't been allowed to accompany them on their travels afterwards. She nodded and stepped forwards to look over the rubble with Drake.

"I've been in charge of rebuilding while Her Highness is away, but the construction workers are blessedly efficient. All I've needed to do is ensure that they have the supplies they need. I do wish that I could aid in a more direct way, but I'm afraid that Her Highness and Adelbert have been adamant that I'm to stay out of the loop." She sounded so pained that Drake shifted a little. He couldn't imagine keeping something so important from Odette.

"...Don't tell anyone that I've told you." Beatrice turned to look at Drake properly when he spoke, he'd been standing on her blind side. "There is a spell that the former Lord Kings is building over the Iifa Tree on the Caledonia Continent. We suspect he may be trying to destroy Gaia itself somehow. We're building our power to hopefully match his after he gained more power in our recent trip to Terra." Beatrix was silent, frowning a little.

"I see...And Her Highness wished to keep this a secret to prevent panic." Drake nodded and sighed, linking his fingers behind his back. Thankfully, neither Dagger nor Steiner had noticed the two of them standing near each other. "I shall respect her wishes, and keep it to myself. Kuja's actions are the reason why the Mist has returned, then?" Drake nodded again and sighed.

"Beatrix! There you are!" Drake almost cringed as Steiner noticed them. "The foreman says you've reports?" Beatrix sighed a little and trudged down the hill to join the others. Drake trailed along after her, carefully picking his way through the rubble so that he wouldn't risk breaking anything. "Ah, Drake, er, I mean Lord Drake, there you are."

"Just call me Drake, please, we've been traveling together long enough. The progress has been impressive, I hope? I wasn't in any fit shape to see for myself, last time I was here." Drake rubbed next to one of his eyes to emphasize what he was talking about.

"Yes, quite a bit. Most of the rubble has been cleared away, they're working around the last pieces for now. I believe they are planning on incorporating some of the larger pieces as cornerstones, correct?" That last bit was directed to the primary architect, who nodded.

"Some of the larger blocks will have to have the damaged parts chipped away before they're usable, but most of our quarries have been blocked in one way or another by giant tree roots that came out of nowhere." Drake frowned a little, and glanced to Dagger.

"That sounds like Iifa tree roots. I wasn't aware that there was a reaction like that underway. Wouldn't we have seen more hints of that in Caledonia?" Dagger and Steiner both blinked and frowned a little, thinking.

"I don't believe so. Not unless we were nearer to it, and the most any of us got to see it was its canopy, from the mountains." Drake scratched at his head a little, grimacing. She was right, even climbing to the highest point possible only allowed a view of the top of the Iifa tree.

"I suppose someone should chart which areas are affected by its root movement. I remember there being a segment of root structure revealed to the air near Gizamaluke's Grotto, and Alexandria isn't going to be the only nation struggling with this obstruction." The others nodded, and Dagger straightened a little.

"I think the Invincible is probably the best ship for the job. It's faster than even unc- I mean, Regent Cid's airships, and we have the time to take a cartographer about to mark the maps. I'm sure Beatrix and Steiner would rather that I remained in the safest situation possible." Drake lifted his eyebrows at that and glanced at the two soldiers. They nodded. Dagger would be safer in the Invincible.

The fact that this was a very convenient excuse for the lot of them to travel around to prepare for the final battle didn't escape him. Thanks to what he told Beatrix, though, chances were that Cid would find out. He had a feeling that the man would understand their need to prepare unimpeded. Another thought occurred to him, and he turned to Beatrix.

"What state is the harbor in? There's bound to have been heavy waves from the rubble crashing into the ocean, but there's going to be more, I'm sure." Beatrix blinked at him, and he gestured towards the sky. "I don't think there's a single person that hasn't been aware that something's happened to the moon. There's going to be chunks of it falling to the ground, and some of them will be large enough to flood the coastal regions. On top of that, the tides are going to be entirely unpredictable for...probably a few years. I won't pretend to know what's what when it comes to the sea, but I do find it necessary to warn about the dangers ahead."

"I'll be sure to check in on that as soon as possible. I wasn't aware of the probability of damage by waves caused by the debris falling." Beatrix turned and bowed to Dagger before trotting off in the direction of the harbor. Drake watched her go for a moment, just until he saw her hail a worker that was heading in the same direction.

"I'm going to go look around the town, see if there's anyone that needs help there." Dagger nodded to Drake, and he gave her a small bow before heading to the river to get the ferry to the city. The soldier on ferry duty saluted him sharply, but didn't say anything as she delivered him to the other side of the river.

"Drake, there you are!" Marcus waved to Drake as he walked along. "How goes things at the castle?" Drake fell in step with him as he walked along. Marcus was carrying a piece of lumber over his shoulder as easily as if it was a bag of grain.

"It's starting to get put back together. How goes the construction on this side of the river?" Marcus shrugged with one hand, and Drake sighed. "Well, I guess it's just a matter of time. Baku isn't too upset that I won't be coming back to the troupe?"

"Oh he's upset, just not as much as any of us expected. I think he knew you'd move on from us eventually." Drake grimaced at that, and waved at Ruby as she started to walk over. "Hey Ruby. The theatre's all done with its repairs?"

"Didn' need too many of 'em. Drake, hun, you been avoidin' me?" Drake lifted his eyebrows as Ruby pouted at him. He shifted a little, uncomfortable, and glared a bit as Ruby started to giggle. "I'm jus' teasin' ya, sweetheart. Everyone knows you got that pretty little noble lady Odette you're sweet on." Drake blushed and looked away.

"Hey Drake!" Blank arrived, slithering down off of a nearby roof to land with a soft thud. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" He tilted his head towards Ruby and Marcus. Drake lifted an eyebrow but shrugged. He followed Blank down an alleyway until they reached a garden that looked like it hadn't even felt the wind from the explosion that brought Alexandria to its knees. "When was the last time you dreamt of the battlefield?" Drake gave Blank an odd look.

"The other night. Why?" Blank swore and ran his fingers over his mouth, scowling. Drake kept his eyes on him, tilting his head to the side. "You're having a hard time getting there again?" A bob of the head, and Drake sighed. "Can't help you there. I've got enough on my plate as it is."

"And I'm afraid you may have a bit more." Both Blank and Drake jumped as Cleyra stepped out of the gardens, smiling softly. "Long time no see," she greeted Drake, before her smile faded. "The seal on us Constellato has weakened considerably. Unfortunately, we aren't the only things that it was sealing." Both men stared at her, though Drake was at least able to keep his eyes on her face. She was dressed in flower petals that the garden didn't seem to be missing.

"There's something else?" Cleyra nodded, her face solemn. Drake ran his fingers through his hair, groaning. "Of course there is." He didn't say it, but he was already swearing I his head. Of course he couldn't predict everything. What else was there for them to face? Kuja had their attention, of course, but...

"There was a...proto-eidolon that was sealed at the same time as us. They used to have a form, but with the disappearance of their legend, they have lost not only their form, but also their ability to control their own power." Drake blinked and paled. He had a feeling he knew what Cleyra was talking about. He could dimly remember the game, and the super-boss that he had never managed to defeat. "All we have left is their name: Ozma." Even Blank looked unnerved.

"Why does that make me want to crawl under a bed and hide for forever," Blank muttered. Drake shook his head. He couldn't even begin to explain things to his friend. Blank just sighed and tugged at his hair. "Okay, so this thing is being unsealed at the same rate as the Constellato. What happens if it's let loose completely?" Cleyra shook her head, frowning.

"It will be impossible to harness to the summoners again. Gaia is beginning a violent upheaval already. If Ozma is released, it will be as if all the fury of Terra was unleashed upon Gaia. They are weaker than they were when they were sealed. Before, it was impossible to kill them and dissolve their power into the world once more. Now, though..." Drake stared at Cleyra. The Ozma from the game was at its weakest?

"But now it is?" Blank sounded like he wasn't sure if he should be hopeful or not. Cleyra nodded. Drake ran his fingers through his hair, trying to scour his memory for any clue of how to defeat a weakened summon. He couldn't think of any.

"Just barely. They will start to regain their power once the seal is fully released." Cleyra paused, and continued on. "It is possible to add another, weaker, seal on top of it. It would take many summoners, and they would be unable to help in the fight." Drake winced. All of the summoners that they knew of amounted to two people, unless he and Odette counted somehow.

"So we're screwed." Blank looked like he had a headache. "Unless there's more summoners hiding in some cave somewhere, we'll have to deal with the nightmare of a regenerating uber-summon." Cleyra shook her head, and Drake watched her, tilting his head to the side.

"There are summoners that are not humanoid, but they are few and far between. It is not a trait that is handed down amongst kin in any other species, but they can learn." Drake blinked, thinking. "They are called monsters because of their own kin, but they are peaceful. I cannot tell you where they are, though." Drake groaned and rubbed at his face.

"Well then it's a good thing that Dagger seems to think that now would be an excellent time to bring a cartographer around to map the world again." Blank gave Drake an odd look, and he shrugged. "I know, doesn't make a whole lot of sense with all the stuff going on, but it'll make life easier for now." Blank gave Drake a look that told him he knew he wasn't telling the whole truth.

"If you think that only some of the Chosen can be involved in something, think again," he said, thankfully without venom. Drake ran his hands over his face, groaning. "I know something is going on, all the world does. If the moon falling from the sky isn't enough for some people, well then they've got their heads under stones." Blank jabbed his hand at the sky. Most of the fragments had fallen to the earth already, but everyone still noticed the change. Drake groaned and let his hands flop to his sides.

"Okay. But you can't tell anyone." Blank crossed his arms and waited. Drake paced, Cleyra had disappeared into the flowers again. Finally, Drake got his thoughts in order. "Kuja's still alive, and is back on Gaia. He's doing something over the Iifa tree, some sort of spell, I think. When we all were on Terra, he...snapped. He wants to destroy everything, because he's going to die." Blank gave Drake a boggled look, and Drake shrugged. "I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us, but I don't think he's really quite sane anymore."

"Well you can say that again." Blank ran his fingers through his hair, looking much more stressed than he used to. "Can't say he was ever fully sane, but this is another thing entirely. Does anyone know what to do about this?" Drake shook his head.

"I think the majority of the plan is just 'find him and make him stop' but the details are still up in the air." Blank groaned. Drake stopped pacing, a thought coming to him. "But this is exactly the sort of thing that the Einherjar were gathered for." Silence met his statement, and he turned to look at Blank. He was getting stared at.

"It is. All these centuries, and we're the generation that fulfills the requirements." Drake shrugged. They heard a shout, and both of them turned to look through the garden. A man with spiky black hair was frowning at them.

"Hey, you two! Don't go bruising the flowers!" Drake blinked at the guy. He looked like he would have been right at home swinging a sword that weighed as much as he did. It wasn't until a pretty brunette leaned out of the second floor window to call down to him that he managed to place the face.

"Zack, leave them be! They haven't even touched the flowers." Zack looked abashed as soon as he realized who was scolding him, and looked away. Drake shook his head a little and led Blank away, waving at the two as Zack tried to defend himself to Aeris.

They walked along the streets until they reached the outer wall, and Drake pointed out the ship to Blank. It was a bit hard for him to see, and he'd walked from the thing. Eventually, though, the light shifted enough for a flare of light to come off of the top of the ship.

"Wow, that is hidden really well. I'm guessing you don't want Baku and the others to know about this?" Drake nodded. He felt a little bad about going behind the backs of the others, but he honestly had no idea if they'd have been able to figure out and put things together if it wasn't for him dropping them hints. "I'll keep an eye out for it. Not many ships like that in the skies." Drake shrugged, and turned as he heard Zidane yell his name.

"And I guess that's my cue to stop skulking around. See you on the battlefield." Drake clapped a hand to Blank's shoulder, and loped over to greet Zidane like a big wolfhound, all smiles and eagerness. "Zidane! So, are we off to do stuff?" Zidane gave him an odd look, and Drake shrugged. "The entire time we've been here, I've felt like people are staring. I don't particularly like that feeling." Zidane rolled his eyes but accepted the excuse.

"The cartographer is getting his things put together. Dagger is getting the supplies put together, but where we're supposed to put them all is beyond me." Drake shrugged and started out the gate.

"I guess we'll be the ones to guard the ship until the supplies get there, yeah?" Zidane shook his head with a groan, and Drake just grinned, pulling his bow out of his pouch and pausing just a moment to string it before he slung it over his shoulder.

Sabin and Edgar had been left at the ship while the rest went into town, and they looked grumpy as Drake grinned at them. It only took a few moments for Sabin to get Drake under his arm and give him a noogie. Drake yelped and squirmed free, and patted gingerly at his head, wincing.

"So you're here to keep us company until everyone else comes by?" Edgar pretended to not notice when Drake shoved Sabin, tucking his thumbs under his belt. Zidane nodded, and sidestepped Sabin as he ran from Drake, laughing. The grin on Drake's face suggested he wasn't as insulted as he had acted. "At least we have some entertainment."

As Zidane turned to look, Drake caught up to Sabin and jumped on his back, sending the two of them sprawling in the mast on the forest floor. Edgar frowned for a moment at the pause before Drake and Sabin started to laugh. Zidane sighed and shook his head at the two goofballs. Drake and Sabin roughhoused for a few more minutes before hauling themselves up and brushing each other off and making it back to the ship.

"So I met Cleyra in this pretty little garden in the slums earlier today," Drake said as he sat down just inside the ship, his legs hanging off of the gangplank. That got everyone's attention. Edgar and Sabin because they knew Cleyra only as a faceless Constellato, Zidane because he could remember the pretty dryad from their visit to the settlement of the same name. "Seems like going after Kuja isn't the oly thing on our plate. There's an ancient Eidolon that has its eye on causing havoc as well. Was sealed with the Constellato."

"Of course. Because dealing with one potentially world-ending threat isn't enough, we have to face three." Edgar jerked his hand up in the air, gesturing towards where the moon used to be. "Ill luck arrives in threes." Drake tilted his head to the side.

"So does good. After all, Odette, Zidane, and I all have come from other worlds, at least partially, and we're fighting for Gaia." Edgar sighed and glared at Drake, who shrugged. "You can't be negative all the time." Sabin shook his head and laid down on the gangplank.

"How can we fight an Eidolon, though? The last people to even try were martyrs of old, and we all know how that ended up." Drake nodded, resting his chin on his hand.

"Fortunately for us, being sealed seems to have weakened it drastically. We're supposed to be able to defeat it, according to Cleyra. She did say that we'd do better if we find some summoners to place another weaker seal on it so that once we release it to fight it, it doesn't start getting powerful again. Not sure where we're supposed to find them, but apparently the summoners she was talking about are...monsters?" His blood brothers stared at him, and he shrugged. "I know, it seems bizarre to me."

"That's because my sister has once again neglected to explain everything." Drake lurched to his feet as he recognized the voice of Lady Maria, but she pressed him back into his seat, standing behind him. "Though it does make sense. As the Huntress, I am better able to tell you where to find them."

"And where would they be, Lady Constellato?" Edgar seemed on edge. Drake lifted an eyebrow at him, but Edgar refused to look away from Lady Maria. "And how do we convince them to aid us?" Lady Maria smiled slyly.

"They are fond of stones, especially those that may hide something of value. As for their location," Lady Maria patted Drake's shoulder, where her hand remained. "He will be able to lead you to them. On this I will lend direct aid." Drake blinked at that, confused.

"That counts as direct aid?" He got a swat to the head and a laugh out of Lady Maria. "Oh, that reminds me. Blank and I had a idea that the Einherjar may be of help with dealing with Kuja." Edgar and Sabin's eyes lit up.

"You may speak to them on the matter. No Constellato can tell the Einherjar what to do, merely offer suggestions. And even then, the Chosen have more sway over them. You may have trouble speaking to all of the Einherjar, though, if only your own class is able to see you." Drake frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

"So what do we have to do to be seen by all of them at once?" Sabin looked confused. Drake didn't blame him, not once had he ever had someone who wasn't an archer comment on his presence. He looked over his shoulder to see if Lady Maria had any suggestions, only to see that she had disappeared.

"Figures," Edgar sighed, and arched his back until it cracked. "Hey Sabin, why don't you try your usual go-to method of dealing with problems?" Drake blinked, confused for a moment, and then realized what Edgar was talking about. Sabin just frowned.

"I've tried meditating before, it doesn't do much. Then again...I hadn't really earned my place among the Einherjar then, either." Sabin's eyes drifted to Drake, who frowned.

"I don't think I have, either. I may have been called Destined, but..." Zidane groaned and flopped back melodramatically. The three other men stared at him, though Drake looked the most confused.

"If the stories I heard while in the mountains were any indication, all it really takes to be counted among them is a lasting legend. Yours is probably going to outstrip all of the ones I heard over the winter, and it's still being written." Zidane pointed at Drake, who frowned, thinking.

"About the moon? That's nonsense, that was Kuja's doing. The only reason my name is being tied to it is because of an old story and the clans looking for reason where there really isn't much." Now Edgar and Sabin were glaring at him. Drake shrugged. "I wasn't even part of the group that took down Garland. I was working on killing the dragon." Sabin rubbed at his nose.

"You do have a point there..." Now Edgar groaned. He covered his face with his hands and rubbed at it, leaving smears of dirt and grease - from what, Drake had no idea.

"The point is, Drake has the best bet of getting their attention. They're used to archers being leaders amongst the Chosen. Drake is not only an archer, but is pretty damn smart, and while he sometimes has trouble with people taking him seriously, when he puts his mind to it, he can be really goddamn convincing." Drake blushed a bit and tugged on his nose thoughtfully.

"I could give it a try. With Dagger wanting to squire a cartographer around, we'll have a lot of time to prepare, anyhow. With any luck, we'll at least be able to keep an eye on Kuja and try to find these summoning creatures." That got nods all around.

Their group was pretty far from being able to take Kuja on again. With time, hopefully his Trance would wear off, leaving him easier to kill. At the very worst, he'd be busy with whatever spell he was building slowly, and give them time to not only heal up, but get stronger as well. If they were going to take on an ancient Eidolon, they would have to get stronger.

Drake rubbed at his face, thinking. He'd only tried to fight Ozma once while he was still on Earth, and Ozma had laughed off all of his attempts. They couldn't restart here, if they all got wiped out, there were no do-overs, no saved data to try and try and try again. They had to get it right the first time, or the whole world was doomed. He had no idea of what to do. Either the friendly monsters could get them some information, or they'd have to scour Dageurro to find even the tiniest speck of a hint.

"So, is anyone else feeling kind of overwhelmed? Or is it just the weight of the moon?" Sabin seemed to be trying to make light of their situation, but the joke fell flat. Drake was feeling stressed almost to the point of feeling sick to his stomach, and it had been quite a while since he'd felt that level of unease.

Edgar, Sabin, and Drake batted around ideas for how to talk to more than one group of Einherjar until the rest of the group arrived, a cartographer in tow. Drake thought about telling everyone about the Eidolon that they were going to have to fight, but elected to not do so. After all, they had no idea if they'd even be able to find the friendly monsters just yet.

It only took them a day to find the first one, a surprisingly friendly Mu that hopped right up to the cartographer to sniff him, much to the man's terror. While everyone was trying not to laugh too hard at a grown man being terrified of a fluffy squirrel-like creature that didn't seem to have a mean bone in its body, Drake tried to find a rock that filled the parameters that Lady Maria had mentioned.

Dagger eventually handed the Mu a rock from her pouch after it snuffled her hand, and it bounced happily, playing with the rock and tossing it up into the air before catching it. Then it tucked it into its tail, somehow, and sat up, looking at Dagger as it offered her a bottle of what looked like a regular potion.

"Say hello to Ghost for me!" They all jerked as it spoke clearly. Their surprise apparently startled it as well, and it ran off into the bushes. Drake had to blink several times more before he scratched the back of his head.

"Well. I heard they were friendly, but I didn't hear that they could talk..." Everyone turned to stare at him. Edgar and Sabin were refusing to meet his eyes, he couldn't get them to bail him out of this one. "Okay, this is going to be a long story. We might as well eat while we're at it..."

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 **End notes:** With how slowly I was able to get the next chapter written, I don't know if I'm going to be updating this story with any amount of regularity. I'll try to bounce back to it again soon, though.


	2. The Four Corners of the World

**Author's Notes:** holy shit that was a long slog to get that chapter finished. There really isn't much that happens in the fourth disk of the game, so I was sort of scrabbling for anything to do. The chocobo sidequest is entirely unlikely to happen in the story because the chocobo wasn't very important for the most part, and I figure the moogles can sort of the superslick thing on their own. That or Zidane did it, but that's entirely optional.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy frachise. This should be obvious.

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Chapter 2: The Four Corners of the World

Drake was uncomfortably aware of how silent his friends could be when they were processing information. Especially the outlandish information that he was starting to realize was a regrettable trend with him. He just hoped that this wasn't a nudge too far. They'd listened to him in the past, but there was a limit that everyone had to the nonsense that they could swallow.

"So that's what the ancients sealed away all those years ago? Or was that the first one in a series?" Eiko looked fascinated, which was an odd look on her. She was hugging her flute to her chest, her eyes bright. "Ooh, I wanna ask so many questions, but who would answer them?" Drake shrugged, and glanced at the cartographer, who pretended to be busy noting changes in the landscape.

"We could see if there's any indication in Dageurro, but to be honest, I doubt there is. This one had to have been around the time of Terra trying to absorb Gaia to be caught in the same seal as the Constellato. Older even than Odin." That got a confused look from everyone. Odin was the oldest eidolon that anyone knew of.

"That's right, because Odin was the first Chosen, and therefor after the seal was put in place." Odette's eyes were wide. "Would the Constellato know anything about this Ozma?" Drake shrugged, shaking his head.

"I don't know. Cleyra didn't have much information beyond that it exists, and is a threat to Gaia. Lady Maria didn't give us much more information, either. The summoners that we need to find are like that Mu from earlier, a species that would normally attack humans, but friendly. I'm supposed to be able to find them, but..." Drake shook his head again.

"But you didn't sense that one." Edgar was able to read Drake's pauses better than most. "Mm. And then there's that other thing that we've been trying to figure out as well..." For once, Drake was glad that he wasn't alone in stressing about things.

"At least looking for the friendly monsters seems to tie in nicely with mapping the Iifa Tree roots," Dagger offered. Drake played with the idea of pointing out that while an updated map would be nice, it was bound to be outdated again in short order, so bringing the cartographer around had been a moot point. But he didn't want to hurt the man's feelings, or tip him off more to the fact that they were up to something.

"That is true," Zidane said, and stretched. "Though we've probably spent more than enough time checking things out in this area. Let's get moving again." Odette helped Eiko and Quina pick up the picnic that they had spread out while listening to Drake explain about Ozma and the friendly monsters.

Drake grumbled as he heard their next destination: Treno. While he technically lived there now, he still didn't like it much. Not in the least because it was always dark. The stink and corrupt nobles didn't make things any nicer, either. At least the nobles there would have gotten word that he was engaged already.

Odette wanted him to go along with her into Treno anyhow, and looked hurt when he refused. Drake had to promise that he wasn't upset at her, he just didn't want to put up with all the attention he'd get in Treno. Edgar went with her instead, and Sabin went with Drake. The cartographer stayed on the ship with Dagger and Zidane. Drake wasn't sure what the rest of the group was up to, but Eiko went with Odette to Treno and Drake had Freya and Amarant trailing after him again.

Dagger had shown Drake the type of rock that she had given to the Mu, and Drake had found more, tucking them into his belt pouch. He wasn't sure if they'd find the next monster, but it was better to be safe than sorry. At the very least, the rough gems made for something to occupy his hands.

For hours, they wandered around the forest, talking. Drake told Sabin the secret he had entrusted to Freya and Amarant, and was surprised to find that Sabin accepted it as truth with only a small amount of persuasion. Most of the monsters avoided them, though there were a few that didn't recognize how strong they were.

After a while, they came across what must have been a house in the middle of the forest. Sabin wanted to leave as soon as they saw it, but something told Drake that it would be a better idea to stay and explore. It was a surprisingly big house, and as soon as they walked into it, Drake realized that they were being watched.

They found their way to the courtyard, and Drake sat down on the defunct fountain, and pulled out his flute. All the legends about ghosts that he could remember stated that they were kind to people that reminded them of the good things in life. Well, so long as they had been good people in life. Besides, what sort of person didn't like a little music?

Some birds started to sing along to Drake's tune as he played. He knew that ghosts were a type of monster in the game, but to be honest, He'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt. Sure enough, partway through the song, a ghost rose up out of the ground, swaying to the music. Drake finished the song and tilted his head at the ghost.

"Are you one of the summoners that I was told to look for?" The ghost tilted its head to the side. "The Constellato told us that we need to find summoners to place a seal on the resurrected Eidolon Ozma." Drake placed his flute down next to him, and pulled out a rough garnet. He held it out to the ghost. "Here. I was told that summoners like gemstones." The ghost floated forwards a little, and the garnet lifted out of Drake's hand.

"Fortunes smile upon you, Chosen." The ghost's voice sounded distant, for all that it was only a few feet in front of him. "Give my best to Ladybug, and may you succeed with all your endeavors." The ghost faded, and the garnet flashed white before a bottle landed with a soft clink in the overgrown grass, directly under where the ghost had been.

Drake scratched the back of his head as he picked his flute up again, and tucked it into his belt pouch. Sabin's eyes were wide, and he looked like he wanted to bolt out of there. Drake shrugged and picked up the bottle that the ghost had dropped. He stared at it for a moment, then tucked the hi-potion into his belt pouch.

"I have no idea how you can stay so calm," Sabin finally said, his voice cracking with the effort it took to not sound shrill. "You grew up with the same stories I did." Drake shrugged, and led the way out of the abandoned house. They'd completed the task they had arrived to do, it was time for them to leave before they wore out their welcome.

Sabin slowly relaxed as they walked back to the airship, taking a much more direct route than they had used to get to the abandoned house in the first place. Quina insisted on feeding them as soon as they returned, heating up some leftovers from the lunch that everyone else had had. Odette and the rest had returned in time for lunch, meaning that everyone had been waiting on the group that had gone to look for the next summoner.

Freya explained that they had indeed managed to find the summoner as Drake ate the sandwich that Quina had pressed on him. Everyone was a bit surprised by how easily Drake had managed to find the ghost, though when asked, Drake had to admit that he hadn't really been aware that the ghost had been there.

Zidane shrugged and moved to the airship's control station as they cleaned up. They had a few more regions of the map to check over. Thankfully, the map of the Mist continent only seemed to need a few revisions, mostly marking off which roads were blocked off.

The next continent for them to tackle was undoubtedly Caledonia, but Zidane chose to go see how the Genomes were doing in the Black Mage Village instead of setting the Invincible down in the mountains so that everyone could go visit Drake's clan.

Drake wandered out of the forest after they arrived, aware that only Amarant was following him. He thought he was wandering aimlessly until he realized that he had walked right into a meadow that felt...different. There was a spring that fed a pool, and brightly colored flowers ringed it.

Drake walked to the edge of the pool, being careful not to crush any flowers, and crouched, dipping his fingers into the water. He flinched, the water was ice-cold. He wasn't expecting that temperature, not with summer almost arrived.

"Hey! Don't hurt my flowers!" Drake twisted to look over his shoulder, and blinked as he saw a very large ladybug hovering in the air behind him. Amarant looked like he was debating stepping in.

"I'm trying not to," Drake said patiently, as he backed away from the pool so he could turn around without damaging any of the plants. The ladybug crossed its upper set of arms, wings still fluttering. "My name is Drake. Are you one of the summoners the Constellato told me to seek?" The pattern of the ladybug's wings faltered.

"And if I am?" Drake sighed. He supposed it had been too much to ask for every meeting with a monster summoner to go smoothly. At least the ladybug hadn't attacked him on sight, as its cousins seemed content to do.

"The Ghost sends his greetings," Drake said. The ladybug landed at that, and folded its wings back. "Also, I have rough gemstones if you-" The ladybug was back in the air and in Drake's face before he could finish his sentence. Drake had to gesture for Amarant to back down as he saw the monk react. The ladybug was simply holding out its hands.

This summoner was picky, and ended up choosing a rough amethyst and a chunk of black tourmaline before being satisfied with the gift. Drake felt a little bad about losing that tourmaline, he had rather liked it. It was a nice heavy rock, and holding it in his hands grounded him nicely.

"I'll help you. But only if you get enough summoners! I won't risk my life for this nonsense," the ladybug said as it arranged the rocks next to the spring. "A Chosen like you should be able to manage this, though." Drake blinked, catching the object that was tossed to him.

It wasn't an ether, like what had been the prize for winning over this friendly monster in the game. It was a carved jade stone in the shape of a hunting horn. The cord attached to it was woven out of plant fibers, just long enough to fit over his wrist.

"What is it?" The ladybug scoffed, disappointed that Drake didn't know what it was. The summoner stilled as Drake stared at it, though, and shifted uncomfortably. Drake had no idea what jade was supposed to be able to do, Dagger had never used it.

"Yeti will tell you, when you find him," the ladybug finally sneered, and zoomed off into the trees. Drake shook his head and looped the gift over his right wrist, where it wouldn't interfere with his arrows. He walked past Amarant back into the forest, trying to hide just how angry that summoner had made him.

The walk back to the village was long enough to get him calm again, thankfully. Sabin and Edgar were training by the entrance to the village, and managed to cajole Drake into joining them. The exercise was enough to calm him the rest of the way down, though the fact that it gave him a chance to work off the energy that had been building up was a plus.

The ship returned with the cartographer done charting the mountains area, including the locations of the villages, and they all piled into the ship. It was late, though, and Drake found that someone had managed to outfit the cargo hold with bunk beds. When he lay down in the one he'd claimed for himself, he blinked. The ship must have made a stop at his village, because the scent of his mother's herb mixture was embedded in the blankets.

The familiar scent was enough to overwhelm the feeling of unease that he always felt in the Invincible, enough that he could actually get some sleep. His dreams were far from relaxing, though, and he woke up before dawn with his heart pounding, half convinced that they were under attack.

Odette was awake as well, coming back from the bathroom on the ship, and looked worried at him as soon as she saw that he was drenched in sweat. It took Drake a while to convince her that he'd merely had a bad dream. He had to believe that it was a bad dream, and not a prophetic one.

Drake walked to the open space near the entrance to the cargo hold to begin stretching instead of heading back to sleep, and frowned as he saw that Sabin was also awake and looking pale. His blood brother merely smiled at him as he sat up, and rolled his shoulders back.

"I swear this ship does something to my head," Drake whispered as he plopped down on the ground and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I haven't had a good night's sleep since we started to sleep on it." Sabin shrugged, and Drake sighed.

Quina woke up next, and demanded that Drake and Sabin help him cook. The busywork was good for Drake's nerves, though his skill with the knife wasn't enough to get Quina to stop trying to show him how to do things properly. Sabin was safe from the lectures, he'd been put to kneading dough for bread. Drake had to bite his tongue to keep from losing his temper at both of them.

At least everyone agreed that the food was good, when it was all ready to be eaten. Drake had to agree that most of it was because of Quina and not him. He'd been stuck with the basic tasks while Quina did all of the actual cooking.

Drake found himself fingering the jade trinket that the ladybug had given him as he listened to the debate on where to go next. The day before had been remarkably productive, with updating the map of the Mist continent and finding three of the summoners that they would need. Drake could only help that the pace would stay steady.

As the ship rose into the air, Drake stared in the direction of the Iifa Tree. The spell that Kuja was weaving was visible even from the distance they were at. Drake frowned, thinking. Just how much time did they have before Kuja was done? They had to deal with Ozma before him, but they were undoubtedly in a race against time. And there was no way that they could hide this from the cartographer, not when the man was too busy gaping at the tree.

"Next stop: Madain Sari." Drake shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. The last time that this ship had been to Madain Sari had been when it was destroyed. How would the moogles react to seeing the ship? How would Dagger and Eiko feel about it? A glance towards them told Drake that they were calm, or at least hiding their feelings.

Zidane set the ship down just outside of the ruined city, and everyone who wasn't going to stay with the cartographer piled out. Drake and Odette wandered off without the rest of the group. Drake was surprised to note that Amarant didn't bother to follow them, and gave them privacy.

"It's so strange," Odette said after a while. They were walking along the ruined road beside the cliff. Odette was staring off towards the ocean. "I feel like I know this city. Or rather, knew it. Before it was ruined." Drake shifted his shoulders uncomfortably.

"Kuja used the souls of many summoners to draw us from Earth. Likely, it's their memories that were mixed in with ours that gives us both that feeling. I've never gotten lost here." Drake clambered over a fallen pillar, and then helped Odette over it. "It was strange, last time I was here, because I wasn't able to remember everything about both sets of memories at will. I guess I was still adjusting." Odette smiled ruefully at that.

"I guess it does take some getting used to. Oh! That's not anyone I recognize!" Drake turned to look at what Odette had spotted, and jumped. The bandit that had kidnapped Eiko, what was her name, Lani? Hid behind a rock as soon as she saw that she'd been spotted. Drake blinked a few times, frowning. He had no idea what the woman was doing in Madain Sari.

Odette walked over to talk to the bounty hunter, keeping a safe distance, though Drake had a feeling that she had a couple of spells ready to cast if she really needed to. Drake kept farther away, crossing his arms as he saw Lani glance nervously at him. He wasn't going to give her the chance to hurt his fiancé, but he wasn't going to scare her into trying it to save herself, either.

Finally Odette waved him over. Lani looked nervous, but stayed put. As he approached, Drake realized that the woman wasn't in as good condition as he had thought. She looked like she had nearly died of starvation at some point, which Drake had a sinking feeling might have been the case. He wondered if she was even able to lift that axe she had used anymore.

"You look...well," Lani offered lamely. Drake glanced down at himself. He couldn't see any difference beyond his armor, but for all he knew, she may have been referring to how he held himself. He shrugged and glanced back up.

"You look like you've had a harder time of things." Odette pushed Drake and he frowned at her. She gave him a scolding look, and he rolled his eyes. He didn't like Lani, and he wasn't about to hide it. If he did, she'd probably think he was up to something, or pitied her.

"I have. If not for that yeti leading the moogles to me when I collapsed, I might not even be here." Drake twitched at the mention of a yeti, and stared at her. Lani looked concerned, but kept talking. "I was pretty weak for a while, but the moogles took care of me. I feel really bad about causing so much trouble for them before." Drake blinked. So Lani had had a change of heart.

"Do you know where the yeti that helped you might be?" Lani gave Drake an odd look, and he shrugged, aware that Odette was glaring daggers at him. "It's...kind of complicated, but there's a specific yeti that I have to find, and it may be the one that helped you." He would have to explain to Odette later that he didn't trust himself to comment on the change in Lani without coming off as even more rude than he was already being.

"Just out of town, near those hills over there." Lani turned to point, and Drake looked in that direction. He nodded. It made sense that a yeti would be in the mountains, or in this case, the foothills. He nodded, distracted, and then yelped as Odette pinched his ear. He jerked away and clapped a hand to his poor ear, frowning at Odette.

"Did you never learn manners?" Odette's voice was dangerously low. Drake gave Odette a flat look, still holding his poor ear. He didn't feel any blood, but that didn't mean that it wasn't going to bruise. What was bothering him more was that Odette seemed dead set on him being nice to everyone.

"I learned plenty. I also learned that people who kidnap children don't make a complete about-face in a matter of months easily." Odette blinked, and Drake kept his eyes on her. He did notice Lani look down out of the corner of his eye, though. "It's possible, just not likely. Therefore, I'm perfectly fine with being rude to someone until they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they've changed." Odette 's lips flattened, and she crossed her arms.

"And I suppose I'm to be counted under this little rule of yours?" Drake groaned and tilted his head to the side. He should have seen this coming, to be honest. He was glad Odette was comfortable enough with him to argue, but he'd really rather not have this conversation on top of everything that was going on already.

"You were under a spell that altered your memories and under Kuja's influence, so, no, I don't count you under that rule of thumb. Can we please do this later? We've got enough on our plates without snapping at each other." Drake took the edge out of his voice, closing his eyes as he felt his head ache. Being near someone that he didn't trust kept him on edge, and that plus all the things that were whirling around his head and an argument was more than what he could balance at once. He also didn't want to argue in front of someone that he didn't trust.

Odette stared at Drake, her jaw set, until he looked away and rubbed at his eyes. He was glad that she'd brought up something that had been bothering her, but it wasn't the best timing in the world. Ideally they could delay this until after they were done with Kuja, but he had a feeling that that wasn't going to happen.

"Look. I'm willing to talk about it, but not right here and now." Drake needed to control himself to keep his aggravation out of his voice. He didn't like feeling like he had to walk on eggshells with Odette, but part of him kept reminding him that if he reminded her too much of Kuja, she'd avoid him. Finally, Odette nodded, though she still looked less than pleased.

Drake sighed with relief, and turned to look at Lani, only to find that she had disappeared. He frowned at that, but turned and started to walk towards the hills that the bounty hunter had pointed out to her. Odette walked along. They waved as they saw one of the moogles that Eiko had lived with before she was found stealing from the mountain villages. The moogle waved back.

The walk was exactly what Drake needed to calm down. Odette seemed to feel better once they were out of Madain Sari, too. Drake kept his bow in hand instead of looping it over his neck and shoulder. He wanted to be able to protect Odette in the case of an attack instead of letting her protect him. Never mind that she was a red mage with a not insignificant amount of skill. He was supposed to be her protector.

It took them an hour to get to the foothills that Lani had pointed at, and Odette insisted that they stop to take a break. Drake relented, and looked down at the ruins of Madain Sari as Odette sat and dug in the bag she'd been carrying on her back all day long. Drake blinked as he saw that she was pulling out food, and sat next to her, accepting a sandwich that she handed to him.

Partway through their little picnic, Drake became aware of someone staring at him. Odette was still looking over the plains, so it wasn't her, and they had, as far as he was aware, walked out to the foothills alone. So unless Amarant had followed along after them without Drake being aware of it, they were likely about to get in some sort of trouble. As Drake swallowed his sandwich, he finally spotted the person that was staring at them. Or rather, the creature that was staring at them.

Odette noticed where Drake was staring, and pulled out another sandwich, holding it out to the yeti. The creature shifted uncomfortably, until Drake set down his bow and rested his hands in plain sight. Only then did the yeti shuffle closer and gently take the sandwich from Odette. It then backed off to wolf the meal down.

Drake looked over the yeti for a moment, his head tilted to the side. The creature looked like it had fought a gryphon or something like that recently, it had scabs and dried blood on its back and dangerously near its neck. Drake pulled out the potion and hi-potion that they had been given by the first couple of summoners and offered them to the yeti silently. The yeti eyed him before accepting the potions as well.

"Are you one of the summoners that the Constellato told me to find?" Drake kept his voice soft, but the yeti still jumped. He grimaced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The creature made a rasping noise and tilted its head to the side, one hand out. "Oh, right, the gifts. Here, these are the ones I have on me still." Drake set the rough gemstones on the ground in front of him. The yeti picked through them before selecting a citrine and a stone that he'd been told was called apatite. Both were rough stones, but had a sort of beauty already.

"What do the stones do?" The yeti blinked at Odette, who tugged at her skirt nervously. "I'm not a summoner, but I have magic, and I can't feel anything from the stones." The yeti made another guttural sound and pointed at its throat. "Your throat got injured?" The yeti nodded, and Drake sighed.

"I guess I'm going to have to ask another of the summoners how to use this, then, won't I." Drake flicked his wrist and held up the jade carving to show to the yeti. The yeti leaned forwards to see it, and reached out huge hands to gently tug on it. Drake leaned forwards as well to allow the creature to get a closer look at it. He didn't realize that the yeti's eyes weren't on the carving anymore until he felt its other hand close over his head.

His muscles tensed to pull away from the hand, and as he blinked, he realized he wasn't in the hills near Madain Sari anymore. Shouts and the sound of metal striking metal drew his attention, and he scrambled to the top of a rock, crouching low as he saw the fight that was taking place. And then he noticed that he could actually see his hand. He froze, and blinked several times. His hand still remained visible.

"Hey! I don't recognize you." Cid the First slid around the rock and waved at him. Drake waved back and slid down off the rock, casting one last glance back at the fight. "When're you from?" Drake blinked, looking a bit confused.

"Well, last I was aware, I was still alive." Cid rocked back on his heels, his eyes wide. Drake lifted his right hand to scratch at the back of his head and noticed the jade carving still hanging from the strap around his wrist. "...Hunh. I guess it really did work." Cid leaned over, peering at the carving. "I was told this would help in talking to all of the Einherjar."

"Well if I can see you this clearly, chances are you can talk to everyone," Cid allowed, tilting the carving with a fingertip. "No idea what's so special about this, though." Drake shrugged. He glanced around, hearing the fighting die down. "Well, if you're gonna talk to everyone, you won't have long to wait." Cid started to walk, gesturing for Drake to follow along after him.

"Uhh...I really have no idea what to say. I had no idea when I'd be able to talk to everyone." Cid paused to look over his shoulder at Drake, lifting an eyebrow. Drake shrugged, keenly aware that he was dressed in what he could remember vaguely wearing while in Trance. "Believe it or not, I'm actually not the leader in my group. I'm the second in command." Cid stopped to stare at him.

"What sort of group are you even in? You aren't the only Chosen in it, are you?" Drake shook his head. "So who does the one that actually leads the group bow to?" Drake scratched the back of his head, debating on what to actually tell him.

"Well, he bows to the Trickster, but he's not a Chosen. He's not of Gaia. He's from Terra." Cid frowned, confused. "He's kin to the man that's threatening to destroy Gaia, in a way." Cid sighed and rubbed at his face before twisting his wrists, setting the broken chains to clinking.

"I suppose that would give him a claim on stopping him. A briefing on what's going on would probably be your best bet. The Einherjar are always interested in what's going on in the land of the living." Drake nodded. That made a great deal of sense.

"I can't promise that I'll do well about it, but I can at least try." Cid shrugged, and led them around the rocky outcropping. The fighting was over, and Drake had appeared right next to the main battle, somehow. Everyone paused to look at them as Cid put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Drake blushed a little, noticing how many of them were staring curiously at him.

"So, it's no secret to any of us why we're sticking around here instead of jumping back into the cycle of rebirth. This guy here," Cid jerked his thumb at Drake as he spoke. "Is still alive. Now I don't know about any of you, but I've never heard of that before, and it seems like a decent enough reason to listen to what he has to say." The Einherjar muttered amongst themselves at the news that Drake was still alive. He swallowed as he realized that Cid had just given him the best possible introduction explaining the situation on Gaia.

Surprisingly, he did better than he thought he would, even with his heart in his throat. He stuttered only once, when he made the mistake of looking at a particularly intimidating monk that was scowling at him. He thought deliriously that for all he'd told some pretty tall tales to people, at the very least he could get less anxious about it each time.

Just as the Einherjar began to argue about it, he blinked and found himself staring up at Odette's worried face. He grunted a little and sat up, rubbing at his head. It didn't ache any, despite how he had fallen asleep. Had that been a sleep spell?

"Are you alright?" Drake blinked as Odette patted his face, her own pale. He laughed a little and caught one of her hands, kissing her palm gently. Odette blushed bright red, and Drake grinned. It had been a while since he had caught Odette off guard like this, especially with something so tame.

"I'm fine. Whatever it was the yeti did, it worked. I was on the battlefield, and more than just the archers could see me. I don't know if I was able to convince any of them, but I did tell them what was going on before I woke up. I guess we'll see how things go next time any of us get to sleep." Odette sighed and frowned at him.

"You need to stop scaring me so much," she said finally. Drake frowned and opened his arms. She scooted in and hugged him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. Drake rubbed her back, feeling her shake a little bit.

"Sorry. I'll try to worry you less, but it's gonna be a while yet before we can relax. There's four or five more summoners to find, and then we fight Ozma. After we deal with him, Kuja shouldn't be so bad." Odette huffed a brief laugh against Drake's skin, and finally pulled back a bit, rubbing at her eyes.

"And after that, we won't have to worry about knowing the future?" Drake nodded, and tucked a bit of Odette's bangs behind her ear before getting up and brushing himself off. Odette accepted his hand up, and brushed herself off as well. As Drake looked around, he realized that she had already picked up after their small picnic. His bow was on the ground only a couple of feet away, but it was a simple matter to hook it up off of the ground and sling it over his shoulder.

Odette slipped her hand into his as they walked back to Madain Sari, despite that Drake would need both hands if they were attacked. Much to both of their relief, though they saw the shadows of gryphons wheeling by overhead, none of them bothered to attack them. Dagger and Eiko greeted them as they arrived back at Eiko's house. Somehow, Drake wasn't surprised that Lani was nowhere to be seen.

"Zidane should be arriving soon," Dagger told Odette as Drake crouched to look at what one of the moogles offered him. Interestingly enough, it was a paper with writing on it. Drake wasn't sure what it was for until he saw the signature at the bottom. It was from Lani. Drake glanced over it again, and tucked it into his belt pouch to read closer later.

The faint thrum of the Invincible passing by overhead made Drake cringe. He sighed as he watched it land just outside of town, and turned to look at the girls. They had noticed as well. Odette looked a bit pale, unsurprisingly. If Drake had felt the surge of anxiety, then chances were that she had as well.

Drake sighed with a surprising amount of relief once they were back on the ship. He found the bunk that he'd claimed before, and fell into it, running his thumb over the jade carving. He had no idea how, but the yeti had gotten it to work. Was it possible that he'd get it to work again if he went to sleep? Except he wasn't tired at all.

"Hey Drake, how was the day?" Sabin plopped down on the bunk right next to Drake, making the ropes keeping the mattress up creak. Drake lifted an eyebrow at him. Sabin didn't look like the sort to work well with the monk that had intimidated Drake so much when he was addressing all of the Einherjar, but it could be that he was underestimating that monk he'd been so scared of.

"Oh, you know. I found the next summoner, got knocked out by a sleep spell, told the Einherjar about what's going on out here, had a small argument with Odette..." Sabin winced. "I'm hoping to get a bit of a rest before talking to Odette again. She brought up something that was bothering her earlier, and we haven't really talked much about it yet. Pretty sure it's a remnant of how she was treated by Kuja."

"Eesh. Yeah, that's probably something that you should get done soon. Leaving that sort of thing to fester is a bad idea." Drake nodded and stretched, groaning. The muscles in his back were complaining, despite having not done a whole lot that day. "If you want, I can find a place for the two of you to talk where no one else will bother you." Drake blinked at Sabin.

"I'll think about it. My body feels like it got hit with a tree, for some reason. I don't know if it's a side effect of using this little carving thing or what, but I could do with a nice soak in a hot bath and an hour to stretch." Sabin frowned, and offered his hand to Drake. He took it, and groaned as he was hauled into a sitting position. His back crackled like an elder's, and Sabin winced, hissing in sympathy.

"I'm gonna go get Dagger, just to make sure that it's nothing really worrying. You really need to start stretching though." Drake nodded and unbuckled his armor, setting it aside stiffly to start stretching. It didn't take long for Dagger to show up. Drake winced as he straightened his back and felt a muscle pinch in his chest.

"I don't know what it was you did, but you strained almost all of your muscles." Dagger cast a cure spell on Drake, and he sighed as he felt his muscles loosen. "You should go to bed early today and get what rest you can. You'll have to be gentle with yourself tomorrow, too. No sparring with Amarant or Sabin. I mean it. I'll tell Odette and she'll keep an eye on you." Drake sighed as Dagger cast another scan spell to make sure that she hadn't missed anything.

Drake sighed and flopped back on the bunk, glad that Dagger had been able to tell him why he felt horrible. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go to sleep just yet, though, not if going back to the battlefield made his body tense up again. He also wasn't really terribly tired. He didn't have any books to read, and chances were he would just hurt himself if he worked on carving.

"Hey Drake, you in here?" Edgar's voice got Drake's attention, and he sat back up with a slight groan. "Ah, there you are. Here, can you give me a hand with this? Oh there you are, Sabin. You can help too." Edgar had an armload of metal, and Drake slid to sit on the floor as he and Sabin held things for Edgar as he put it together.

"So what is this, exactly?" Drake had no idea what the device was supposed to be. There were plenty of pipes, but whenever Drake tried to follow one of them, he started to feel his eyes crossing.

"I talked to Regent Cid about his steam engines, and it struck me as being a good idea, if a little inefficient. So, I need to put together something that works like his and figure out what would make it more efficient. To do that, I have to build stuff, and to be honest, it helps to have more than one pair of hands." Drake flinched as Edgar's wrench bumped into his knuckles. "Whoops, sorry."

"It's okay. Think you could explain, in layman's terms, how this is supposed to work? Earth's technology was working off of steam technology generations before I was born, and moved past it well before I was born, too." Edgar paused to blink at Drake, as if he had forgotten about Earth.

Several hours passed as Edgar lectured Sabin and Drake about the device he was building with their help. Drake actually found himself learning a great deal about mechanics. He had no idea how to make it work, himself, but he could appreciate the work it took to get things to work better now.

By the time he actually got to sleep, his mind was whirling with imaginary diagrams that he had thought up while listening to Edgar's lectures. He seemed to take quite a while to get to the battlefield, but when he finally showed up there, he was his normal shadowy self. There wasn't a fight going on, but all of the Einherjar were arguing anyhow. Drake watched from a distance, sitting on top of a rock. No one approached him.

Come the morning, it did still take a lot more energy than he had expected to haul himself up. Sabin had been waiting for him to wake up, and dragged him to the clear section of the cargo hold to stretch before sending him off to find Odette.

She was helping Quina in the rough kitchen in the Invincible, and smiled brightly at Drake as he limped in. She cast a small cure spell on him with a flick of her hand, and Drake sighed as he felt the muscle he'd pulled stretching his right leg ease. Quina dumped a sack of potatoes in Drake's arms and told him to clean them, pointing out a stool for him to sit.

Drake obligingly peeled the potatoes, listening to the chatter of people waking up and stumbling in to see if the food was done yet. Quina had found coffee somewhere, and Drake got a mug of it once he handed over the potatoes that he'd cleaned. He wasn't that fond of coffee, but it did make him feel a little better anyhow.

Just how much his joints crackled as he stood up made him grimace, though. It made him feel as old as his father, especially how his back protested. He noticed Edgar wincing at a particularly loud crack, and made sure that when he sat down again, he had something to lean back against. The hashbrowns that Quina made with the potatoes that Drake had cleaned were very tasty.

Everyone was a bit concerned at their location for the day. It would be impossible to hide the fact that they were preparing for a big battle from the cartographer when they could clearly see that there was a spell warping the air above the Iifa Tree. Drake had to argue Zidane around to letting him off the ship to see if they could find the next summoner. Only the fact that Drake was the one that could find the summoners, even if he seemed to do it completely by accident, was enough to get Zidane to let Drake do as he pleased. Freya and Amarant would be sent with him, though, along with Odette, to make sure that he didn't do more than he had to.

Drake didn't mind the tagalongs. What he did mind, though, was how quickly he got sore. More than once, Odette had needed to cast a cure spell on him because his muscles were seizing up. As the sun rose in the sky, they headed to a drought-struck forest to find some shade.

Once again Odette had brought a picnic, only this time, she actually had a proper basket and a blanket to spread on the ground. Drake was sore enough that he'd had to bite back a snarky comment that they weren't there to have fun by the time he noticed it. Much to his relief, they found a surprisingly lush clearing that was still mostly green.

Drake groaned as he flopped on the grass, moving his arm as Odette spread the blanket on the ground next to him. Freya and Amarant walked around to make sure that there were no monsters nesting nearby that would attack them. Odette started to unpack the basket, including what looked like an egg pie, a smaller basket of rolls covered in a cloth to try to keep it warm, and a skin of some sort of liquid. Drake hoped it was tea. There were also several apples that still felt cool when Odette tossed one to him.

Amarant and Freya sat down on the edges of the blanket as Drake hauled himself up with a grunt. He bit into the apple and slurped the juice up as he scooted onto the blanket without getting up. Amarant grinned a little as Odette handed him a slice of the egg pie while his one hand and mouth were busy. Drake sent him a warning glare, but shifted to not be leaning on his one hand, brushed it off on his pants leg, and accepted the slice of pie.

"So, what's the likelihood of us finding the summoner while we're eating?" Freya sounded somewhat amused. Drake just shrugged, somewhat annoyed that he was being asked a question while his mouth was full. He winced as he swallowed his half-chewed bite of apple.

"It could happen, I guess. But can we not tempt fate?" Odette giggled, and Drake sighed. He had to accept that he was being teased. He muttered into his bite of egg pie and blinked at it, surprised by the taste. He could have done with more salt, but there was some form of seafood mixed in, as well as whatever the green flecks were in it.

"Not mentioning the possibility would tempt fate even more, don't you think? Ooh, this turned out better than I was expecting." With that, their meal was largely uneventful. The only thing that really was of note was a leaf falling on Drake's slice of egg pie as he was about to take a bite, which got laughs from the rest.

The skin that had been packed in the basket held some cooled tea, which, to Drake's disgust, had become very strong in the time that had passed since it had been steeped. Still, they all drank it, because it was there. Drake just made sure that he cut it with swigs of his regular water as well.

It didn't take much to fill Drake up, and he turned to lay flat again, this time with his head resting on the blanket. He jerked with a yelp, looking straight up. Freya and Amarant jerked at his yelp, reaching towards their weapons as they looked to see what he had spotted. They relaxed as they saw the young dryad that was sitting directly above Drake, giggling.

"I apologize, but I wanted to see what you all were doing." This dryad wasn't like Cleyra, who deigned to cover up what would have been deemed inappropriate parts of her body had she been human with clothes of bark, leaves, or flowers. Drake had to concentrate on keeping his eyes on her face, aware that Odette was paying attention to where his eyes wandered.

"Well, at least you're friendly," Amarant muttered. "There's some unfriendly cousins of yours around, last I was aware." Drake blinked and tilted his head to squint at Amarant. "It was before Madain Sari," was the answer to his unspoken question.

"Ah." He turned his attention back to the dryad, who was now at least sitting primly in a spot where the rest of his group didn't need to crane their necks to see her. "I didn't think dryads were that curious about humans. Or, well, people that aren't trees." The dryad giggled at that, and flicked her hair over her shoulder. She looked to be the spirit of a willow tree, but he didn't see any around.

"Most aren't, no. I'm a bit special. I'm the only one I'm aware of that has an interest in summoning. I'm not terribly good yet, but I don't have the access to books like the Jabberwock does." Drake perked up at that information.

"Oh, we've been looking for summoners!" The dryad looked confused at Odette's words, and Drake sighed. Odette muttered an apology as Drake explained why they were looking for summoners that were not of the clan that had once lived in Madain Sari. The dryad listened carefully, kicking her legs every once in a while to keep herself occupied.

"I'd heard some rumors about that, but to be honest, I didn't really take them seriously...Of course I'll help. And I'll make sure that the others help as well, those you've talked to already, to make sure that they know what's going on." Drake nodded and stretched carefully. It was nice, knowing that there was someone among the summoners that was going to keep on top of things.

"That's a load off of my shoulders. We'll try to get in touch with you guys before we go off to fight Ozma. Oh, I almost forgot." Drake dug in his belt pouch to pull out the rough stones he'd been giving to the summoners. The dryad jumped out of the tree she was sitting in to lean over the stones he offered to her. "I thought dryads couldn't leave their trees."

"Only exceptionally old ones can, and by the time we get that old, we don't really like to travel much. Hmm...These three are pretty." Drake handed her the jasper, carnelian, and obsidian stones that she had pointed at. She wove them into her hair to keep them on her as she smiled brightly at him, and then handed him a cut emerald that he hadn't been aware of. "If you find the Jabberwocky, and trust me, that will be a challenge with how much he travels, give him this and tell him that I will need his aid. He will know where to find me." Drake nodded, ran his fingers over the stone once before tucking it into his belt pouch.

"Thank you very much. We'll do our best to find him." The dryad giggled, and leaped back up into the trees. Within moments, she was gone. Drake shook his head, a little befuddled at the speed with which the conversation had ended.

"I suppose it is good to know that there is someone reasonable to keep the rest in line," Odette said as she packed up the food they hadn't eaten. "That's something that they need, from what I've heard." Drake nodded and accepted Amarant's hand up.

"Each one that I've met so far is very different from the rest. She was the first that wasn't shy, though. Shall we get back to the landing zone?" Freya was already getting up to help gather the blanket to fold. Drake stretched again, and blinked as he felt a healing spell ease his muscle aches.

"It would be awfully nice if we spent the night in a town somewhere instead of on the ship," Odette commented. "But I suppose that could wait until after we're done with looking for the summoners. And after we're done carting that mapmaker around."

They were the first ones back to the landing zone, and Drake actually fell asleep in a semi-shaded patch of rock. When he woke back up, his skin felt tight and was a rather unhappy shade of pink. It had been quite a while since he had gotten sunburnt, which made him even more unhappy than he had been before. Thankfully, Odette's healing spell at least reduced how inflamed his skin was, though it still felt far too hot to touch anything to it.

Zidane grimaced as he saw Drake's sunburn, but didn't comment on it. Instead, all he talked about was the spell on top of the Iifa tree. While the cartographer was busy sketching out the ground, he had used the cameras on the Invincible to get a closer look at the spell. His news was depressing for everyone else.

"A swarm of dragons? Really?" Odette sounded close to despair. "Knowing him, they're all silver dragons, too, like the one we killed on Terra. Are they all nesting in the top of the tree?" Zidane shrugged. Drake tugged on his ear cuff thoughtfully.

"We don't have to fight all of them. And asking Regent Cid to try to fit a forward facing cannon on the Invincible would be too suspicious... Not to mention him seeing the ship for himself would be far too telling. Besides, we need to get rid of Ozma first, so it doesn't wreck the world while our back is turned." Zidane sighed and nodded, admitting that Drake was right.

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 **End Notes:** Oh I actually sort of forgot a few things that happened in this chapter. Well, I'm just glad that I'm getting towards the end of this story. Five years is a long time to work on a thing, even if it is off-and-on.


	3. Birth of Legends

**Author's Note:** Wow it took me quite a while to get back to working on this again. I've had a few new fics bite my writing muse since this was written, but I've made a pretty decent amount of plot progress.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise.

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 **Chapter 3: Birth of Legends**

Drake sighed as he climbed up into the Invincible again. It had been a week since meeting the dryad, and they hadn't found a single summoner since then. Edgar had insisted that they map the location of Figaro, though there hadn't been much to look at from the sky. At the very least, Drake's muscles weren't protesting anymore. Mapping the Caledonia continent was taking a great deal longer than it had taken to map the Mist continent.

His skin was a fair sight darker than it had been before leaving to bring the cartographer around the world, thanks to his sunburn. He hadn't gotten burnt enough to peel, although his tan lines were a bit awkward when he was wearing different clothing, or when he didn't bother to wear a shirt.

Most of the group switched around, but Drake was always part of one of the roaming groups. About the only person that he hadn't spent a whole lot of time with lately was Zidane, and that was because his blood brother was too busy with flying the airship. When they weren't off on other duties, though, they spent a fair amount of time together, even if it was just griping together.

At least he had managed to talk to Odette about how he viewed her. He'd had a few illusions about her shattered, certainly, but at the very least they now understood each other better. And he knew when to reach over and tell her not to do something, which would help her to control her own temper, and she knew when he wasn't being serious, even when his face didn't change expression. She'd already been figuring out where his own tempers frayed.

A wet cloth smacked into his face with a slap, and he grunted before peeling it off and glaring at Edgar, who was grinning a little. He was setting down a tub of water with cloths in it by the door. Drake kept glaring at him, even though he was starting to feel better for the blessed coolness on his face.

"Zidane realized that the dust is messing with the mechanical part of the ship a bit, so everyone has to wipe down when they come back in from outside, at least for now." Drake blinked at him, then down at himself. He sighed and shook out his arms. Sand cascaded down to join the pile that was building at his feet.

"Right." Odette was already wiping down the skin that had been visible, shaking off sand as she did so. Drake paused for a moment and leaned forwards, pulling his hood down and ruffling his hair. As he had thought, sand fell from his scalp. He kept rubbing until he figured he had gotten most of it out, and shook out the rest of his clothes.

Seeing Vivi with a broom instead of a staff was almost enough to make Drake laugh, but he was still hungry and irked from the lack of progress. He found his way to the bunks and flopped down on his, heaving a sigh before sitting back up and dumping his bedding on the floor to shake the sand out of it.

Sabin brought Drake a sandwich that Quina had sent along to give to the archer, and Drake glumly at it, picking at it in between just because he needed something to do with his fingers. He was careful not to let the crumbs land on his bedding.

Going to sleep without seeing the others didn't strike him as odd anymore, not when they all were grumpy and wanting to be done with this errand. Drake was among the worst at that, mostly because he was the one that was supposed to find the summoners and couldn't find any. He usually didn't sleep deeply after a worthless day.

Except today he did. Deeply enough to wake up on the battlefield, at that. It was almost eerily quiet, no sound of battle anywhere. When Drake looked down at himself he realized that while he wasn't fully visible anymore, he wasn't a black shadow like he had been before, either. He could see edges of purple and skin, though they weren't very defined. It was still more than what he had been able to see on Edgar or Sabin, though.

"Hoy, about time you showed up again." Drake jumped a little at the call, and turned to look. Cid the First was walking over to him, a wry grin on his face. "We were all waiting for one of ya to show up so we could actually give you our answer finally." Drake scratched at the back of his head.

"I wasn't expecting to stay away so long, to be honest. We are busy on the other side of things. Trying to find summoners from amongst the non-humanoids." Drake winced a little at how awkward that phrasing was, but he couldn't take back words at all. "It's slow going, though."

"I imagine. There aren't too many amongst what most would call monsters that bow to the Constellato. At any rate, you'll have help from the Einherjar, with that bastard from Terra. Maybe not with that thing the Constellato are making you do first, no one here wants to tangle with an Eidolon, even one that's forgotten itself." Drake grimaced a little.

"None of us want to either, but we seem to be the only ones qualified to handle it." Cid clapped Drake on the shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face. "That's probably always been the case for Chosen, hasn't it?"

"Much to the regret of every single one of us. You've more than earned your place here, though. We'll be keepin' a place cleared at the table for ye, but gods forbid ye join us too soon." Drake smiled, and nodded to Cid.

"I'll do my best to arrive an old man." Cid laughed at that and tugged Drake along towards where the rest of the Einherjar were. There were still a few arguments here and there, but no one looked like they were about to escalate things into battle again.

Cid ignored most of them, leading Drake through the crowd. The living man did notice that some Einherjar from other classes glanced at him, though none of them addressed him. He had to wonder if they saw him as a shade, or a mere suggestion of a person.

The people that Cid led him to had a rather even mixture of classes. Cecil was among them, and greeted both of them. Drake shot a surprised glance at Cid, who merely grinned at him and slung an arm around the shoulders of a grumpy-looking geomancer.

"So this is the living archer, eh?" Drake turned his attention and found himself looking into bright green eyes as the man in dark armor leaned heavily on Cecil. Neither of them seemed to mind. "You threw everyone for a loop, showing up like that. First time I can ever remember of a living Chosen showing up so clear to everyone. Thought you mighta been mistaken about still being alive until you popped out of existence." Drake shrugged.

"I wasn't entirely sure that I wasn't dead myself, to be completely honest." The dark knight's grin increased a little. Drake shifted his weight from foot to foot. "So, uh..." Cid rolled his eyes and shoved Drake towards a rock to sit on.

"Sit, we'll introduce ourselves. Well, those of us you don't already know, at least. Part of the thing we all were arguing about was whether or not each Chosen would be able to summon only those that bow to the same Constellato." Drake blinked a little.

"But that would work fairly decently..." Cecil snorted and rolled his eyes. A young woman with a horn coming out of the center of her forehead reached over and tugged on his ear briefly. He sighed and turned his head to look at her.

"Don't tease him, Cecil." The girl turned her head to smile at him. Drake realized with a start that she was Rydia. "All of the Chosen will be able to summon those who they share a class with, but they will also have the option of summoning a specific group. We are in your group." Drake blinked a few times, bemused, and looked over the group.

Cid, Cecil, and Rydia were the only ones that he could recognize, but there was one of each class present. The dark knight introduced himself as Zeke, and had known Cecil while they were both alive. The thief of the group was a boy named Vaan, and was leaning on the white mage, a girl named Penelo. A dwarf from Conde Petie was the geomancer, though he looked less than pleased to have to help someone from the mountains. A stern looking man named Gala was the monk, along with a dragoon that insisted that everyone just call him Jay. He kept trying to flirt with a redheaded red mage that had hints of blue under her armor. The only way he heard her name, Lyn, was by Jay calling her by it. The other three were too busy having a conversation of their own to greet him. Lyn was talking to them as well, it was how she was ignoring Jay.

Drake spent what felt like hours getting to know the ones that bothered to talk to him. Jay seemed more likely to talk about what had happened since he had died than about his own lifetime. Zeke, on the other hand, spoke freely about training Cecil to be a dark knight before the paladin had discovered his proper path. Most of his tales were about the ridiculous things that had happened during their training, though. Still, as they spoke, he started to get a better feel for them. Cid he'd understood better, but each story told him a bit more about what it was like to be a paladin, dark knight, or dragoon.

He still felt tired when he woke up again, but it was no more or less than he usually felt whenever he visited the battlefield. A few good stretches was enough to work out most of the ache, and the coffee that Quina had in the kitchen was enough to wake him up the rest of the way. Edgar looked about the same as Drake had felt, stiff and grouchy. He fell back to sleep with his head against the table as they waited for Quina to be done with cooking their breakfast.

Eiko seemed to have all the energy that Edgar and Drake lacked. Even Quina seemed a little impatient with her energy. Drake groaned as he realized that he was going to have to bring Eiko with him, because the other groups wouldn't stand for her energy either. Armed with the baked lunches that Quina had put together, Drake shooed Eiko out of the ship ahead of him, Freya and Amarant trudging along behind him.

Midway through the morning, Eiko spotted something halfway up a canyon wall. Drake shaded his eyes and squinted at what it was before slinging his bow over his shoulder and starting to climb. Freya jumped up after him once he shouted down that the ledge was solid, and Drake stepped in, his eyes adjusting to the dark.

Much to his surprise, there were several stacks of books, piled up to the modest ceiling. There was a lantern that gave off no heat, but cast a comfortable amount of light. Drake jumped a bit as he saw something move, and suddenly found himself face to face with an equally surprised peaceful monster.

"Well. I have to say it's been a very long time since I last had any company." Drake blinked a bit more at the creature's voice, and glanced over his shoulder at Freya. She gave him a tilt of his head, and he nodded. He had a feeling this was one of the summoners they were supposed to find.

"We weren't really expecting to find anyone all the way out here, to be honest. I'm Drake." The creature held out a hand to shake, and Drake did so, trying not to stare at the rear end the he could see past the creature's torso. What he had thought was a table was merely something on its centaured lower body.

"I usually go by Jabberwock these days. Have you friends outside as well?" Drake nodded, and glanced over his shoulder again. Freya had moved to the entrance of the cave and was calling down to Amarant and Eiko to call them up.

"Yes. Oh, here, Nymph told me to give this to you." Drake dug in his belt pouch until he found the cut emerald, and handed it to the Jabberwock. The summoner's eyes lit up as he picked it up and admired it under the light of the nearest lamp.

"Oh good, she found one for me! I've been running out of gemstones to study lately, and Nymph is the best I know at cutting and polishing rough stones. A bit bossy, but she does have a good heart." Drake rubbed at the back of his head, and blinked as he suddenly found himself scrutinized. "Though I have never known her to give a gift without strings." Drake shrugged.

"We Chosen need help from summoners with something, and there aren't many left. There's an eidolon that was sealed long ago, enough that no one remembers it, and it's starting to come unsealed. The Constellato have told us we need to kill it, but if it becomes completely unsealed, it'll just be a repeat of the tale of the Eidolon Hunters." The curious look on the Jabberwock's face faded into worry.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Oh, I wish that theory of mine hadn't been proven I this way." Drake blinked, and the Jabberwock rummage through his stacks of books before looking through the baskets hanging off of his lower half. "Ah, here we go. One lovely moonstone cabochon, lacking a setting." Drake blinked again as the stone was handed to him. "There's a lovely young feather circle, talented sort, lives on the coast not far from Esto Gaza. Give them this stone, and tell them what you told me. They're bound to not only help but give you directions to other very strong summoners." Drake repeated the information to make sure that he'd gotten it right, then shrugged and tucked it into his belt pouch.

"Hopefully it won't take us as long to find them as it took us to find you. Though Nymph did mention that you're a hard sort to find anyhow." Jabberwock shrugged. "Oh, uh...I keep forgetting to ask, but how are you going to know when to help...?" The Jabberwock chuckled, and Drake frowned.

"Oh, we've got our ways of keeping an eye on the world. You won't have to worry about that, once you're ready to begin the fight, we'll be there, one way or another. Now, would you all like some tea? I'm sure I have some somewhere in here." Drake noticed the baffled look that Amarant was pointing at him and shrugged.

"Some tea would be nice, I think. We wouldn't want to impose on you too much, though." Jabberwock laughed and flapped one hand at Freya's answer, already moving through his stacks of books. Drake leaned over to peer past the corner, and blinked as he saw that it was only this section of the cave that was covered in books. There was a tidy little kitchen that Jabberwock was making his way to.

"Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble at all. Let's see...Ah, yes, here we are. Good Caledonian tea, pity that it's so hard to get ahold of, it's not like any other. Just a moment, let me put some water on to boil, it shouldn't take long." Jabberwock turned to look at them, and gestured for them to walk over to him. "Please, there's no need to cluster in my library, there's plenty of room for everyone to sit over here."

True enough, there was a rather cozy little sitting room, with plenty of space. Drake gave what he thought was a cloth bench an odd look until Jabberwock settled himself onto it comfortably. There were a few books scattered on the low tables I the sitting room, though more than books there were stones of all sorts. Some were cut and polished, others were rough, and there were even some that he were sure weren't worth much aside from acting as paperweights.

"So what did you mean about having a theory proven right? You mentioned something about that earlier." Drake ran one finger over his earcuff, tracing the spine of the metal dragon that was wrapped around the shell of his ear. He almost regretted asking the question as Jabberwock started to prattle on about it. Most of it went over his head, but Eiko seemed to understand what he was talking about.

"So the wall in Madain Sari does more than just remind us of what Eidolons chose to bless my clan, it actually anchors them in reality? If their images got damaged and sealed, maybe eventually they'd go the way of Ozma as the centuries passed." Drake heard the teapot whistling, and glanced at their host before realizing he was having too much fun speaking to another summoner.

Freya and Amarant seemed as amused being spectators to the highly technical conversation as Drake was, thanking him quietly as he handed them mugs of still-steeping tea. Jabberwock didn't even seem to notice, even as Eiko picked hers up and sipped at it, still listening to him.

Drake spaced out as the two summoners rambled, letting his eyes drift closed. He didn't quite fall asleep, but he was feeling awfully peaceful. He blinked his eyes open as he heard his name mentioned, and realized that Jabberwock was frowning thoughtfully into his mug.

"Ah, I apologize. I often forget about things when I get excited, I didn't mean to do so with visitors here." Drake shrugged as Jabberwock bowed slightly to him. "It's the height of rudeness, I deeply apologize." Drake smiled a little and shook his head.

"I'm not offended at all. You were having a wonderful time talking to Eiko, and it's not often that she gets to talk to another summoner, besides the other one that has been traveling with us. I didn't want to interrupt you." Jabberwock frowned, still looking concerned, but nodded slowly, accepting that he wasn't upset by it. "You said this tea is Caledonian tea? Where does it grow? I grew up there and the only teas I've ever had were herbal."

Distracted by the new topic, they chatted for quite a while. Drake was almost sad that they had to leave after another couple of hours, but it was a long walk back to where they needed to be to meet back up with the ship. At least they knew where the next summoner was, finally.

Everyone else was cheered up by the news that they'd found Jabberwock, and another bit of good news was that the cartographer was done with this continent. They would leave for Esto Gaza in the morning, allowing Drake to continue on to the next leg of the search for the summoners.

Dagger was fascinated by whatever it was that Eiko was telling her; more likely than not it was what Jabberwock had chattered on about for a few hours earlier that day. Edgar looked exhausted still, stirring his food listlessly with his spoon as he stared into space.

"If we get help from the Einherjar after we defeat Ozma, will they be able to help us against Kuja?" Drake blinked at the question and shrugged. He stretched and leaned back, groaning as he felt his back pop several times.

"I don't see why not. If you get to the battlefield, though, you can ask them yourself. I think I was told that the meadhall doors wouldn't open up again until conflicts on both sides of the veil have been wrapped up. I should hope it happens soon, I'd wager at least half of the quarrels now are frustration over that." Edgar blinked at Drake, tilting his head to the side.

"Hadn't thought of that. What do you make of the thing they mentioned, about being able to summon people?" Drake shrugged. He was still a little bemused about being seen by more than just the archers, even if he had returned to looking like a shade.

"Haven't tried it yet. I think I'm gonna go to bed." Drake covered a yawn as he carried his dishes over to where they'd end up getting washed. Then he found his way to his bunk and flopped on it, cringing a little as he hit his head, but fell asleep easily enough despite the small ache.

Interestingly enough, his dreams were a mix of Earth and Gaia. He ran from his lodge in Caledonia because he was late for school, and tugged on the loop of Cass's backpack to get her attention before their classes turned into a blur, melding into each other until he found himself lying in a field with Cass on one side, plaiting wildflowers into a string, and Edgar and Sabin on the other, roughhousing. He simply laughed as Cass scolded them for crushing the flowers.

He woke up, feeling more rested than he had in a while, and stretched. His bunk wasn't long enough for him to stretch properly, so he did so again when he was standing. The little clock that someone had gotten while they were in Alexandria told him it was well before dawn. He shook his head at that and found his way to the bridge, where there was enough peace and quiet for him to simply sit and meditate a little.

The sound of Quina setting places in the galley brought Drake out of his thoughts, and he stretched before pushing himself up onto his feet. He blinked at the view that was afforded him outside the ship, unaware that they had been traveling with the sun. It was barely dawn, but he must have been sitting there for at least an hour. The snow on the fields around Esto Gaza looked pale blue, with just a few dashes of gold where the light struck it.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Drake turned, and realized that Zidane had been at the controls of the ship for a while. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. Maybe when this is all over and done with I'll try to get a role as captain of one of Regent Cid's new airships. This thing shouldn't be used, I think." Drake walked over to stand next to Zidane.

"Probably not, no. Not that any of us know how to refuel it, anyhow. Or would want to. Once we're done with Kuja, should we let the regent look at it?" Zidane shrugged, and Drake sighed. "To be honest, the feeling I get from this airship isn't too far off from what I've felt about some of the weapons Earth has. I'd rather that it not exist, but since it does, better to have it in the hands of someone who won't use it." Zidane turned his head to give Drake an odd look.

"Just what sort of weapon is it that you and Odette keep referring to?" Drake shook his head. Zidane rolled his eyes and groaned, looking back forwards. "You are right about this sort of power being in the hands of someone who doesn't like it, though. ...Maybe it would be better if we lost it somewhere, or destroyed it somehow." Drake shrugged and headed back to where the galley was, hearing the sleepy chatter of the rest of the crew.

Odette smiled at Drake as he sat down next to her, and then turned her attention to Eiko, who was attempting to eat her pancakes without the use of a fork and knife. Edgar passed Drake a mug of coffee and pointed to where the sugar was before turning back to bicker at Sabin. Drake couldn't help but chuckle as he scooped a couple of spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee before stirring it with his own spoon.

If not for the fact that they were on an airship, Drake could have been forgiven for thinking that he'd just sat down to a family gathering of some sort. It would definitely be a very strange one, seeing as Freya was reaching something for Vivi, who was sitting next to her, and Amarant was half off his end of the bench, trying to pretend that he wasn't anywhere near Sabin, who now had Edgar in a headlock.

"I'll miss this," Drake murmured to Odette. She blinked at him and tilted her head to the side, and he made a gesture towards the whole group. "Once we're done with Kuja, there won't be too many times like this anymore." Odette blinked and looked around thoughtfully.

"I guess you're right. Though I suppose it doesn't help you much that what's waiting for you in Treno is significantly different to what's here." A sour look crossed Drake's face, and Odette smiled softly. "I know how to run that estate, you won't need to do much with it if you don't have to."

"If you two are done billing and cooing like lovebirds, could you pass the fruit salad?" Edgar had managed to get free of his brother's armpit, and didn't look at all impressed by the tender moment that Drake and Odette had been sharing. Drake rolled his eyes at his blood brother and shoved the bowl of chopped fruit into his hands.

Eiko ended up trailing after Drake and Odette as they went looking for warm clothing to wear outside, with Freya already at the trunk that held the cloaks and gloves. She tossed a set that looked like it would fit Eiko to the girl without even asking if she wanted to come with.

Drake grimaced as he stepped off the ship, feeling the cold bite at his nose. He had his bow slung over his shoulder, keeping his cloak off of his drawing arm, but he'd dressed warmly that morning, anyhow. He had never been quite so happy for woolen clothing before, not even in the depths of Caledonian winter.

Being by the shore was no respite from the bitter winds, either. More than once, he adjusted his bow and had ice fall off of it, which made him worry a little. He wasn't sure if this bow had been treated to withstand cold properly. He just had to trust in Andreas and Torres.

They found a place that was sheltered from the ocean spray and the wind and stood out of the wind to drink the hot tea that Quina had told Drake to put in his belt pouch. It didn't last long, but there were a few other canteens of hot tea still in Drake's belt pouch. The tiny fire that Odette set in the calm part of the dune they had found helped, though it didn't last long. Still, it was a warm bubble against the desolate landscape.

There weren't many plants growing along the shore, and those that did grew gnarled and twisted into grotesque shapes that would likely have struck terror in him were they seen by the light of the moon. There were fewer creatures than there were plants, even monsters seemed to shun the coastline.

"Where did Jabberwock say we could find that Feather Circle?" Drake paused to look back at Freya, adjusting the scarf he'd taken from its place around his hips to settle over his nose a little better. "I can't imagine anyone living in this sort of location." Drake shrugged.

"On the coast near Esto Gaza, is what I remember, but how near, I don't think he mentioned. At least we don't have to go into that city again and deal with the holier-than-thou troupe." Odette snorted a little at that, but looked distracted by something else when he turned to look at her.

"There's a fight over there." Drake frowned at that, but trotted to the top of a hill. He jerked a little, and ducked as the rotting corpse of a sky whale nearly took his head off. He slipped his arm out of his bow as the whale zombie banked and headed back along the way it came. Freya was by Drake's side with her spear at the ready before the whale zombie's shadow had even left the dune.

"Eiko, cast life on that whale. Make sure it's not over anything before you do so, though." Drake pulled a quiver from his belt pouch and hooked it onto his belt without taking his eyes from the fight going on below. Several things that looked like fat, flying fish were chasing after a light teal Feather circle.

Drake was only aware of a thing that looked like an octopus wearing a turtle shell when Odette hit it with a Thundara., but he hadn't been too worried about it anyhow. His attention was on the green Vepals, picking them off one by one as he walked after the fight. He paused only when the whale zombie crashed into the surf. He could hear Freya and Odette right behind him as he focused on the Vepals, pausing with an arrow to his bow when he was looking for another to kill only to realize that they were all gone.

"Phew! Thanks for the save!" The light teal feather circle floated over to him. He couldn't tell if it had a gender, and its voice certainly wasn't giving anything away. "What luck that you were out here just when I needed help! So what are you all doing out here?" Drake looked over his shoulder at Odette as she sheathed her swords.

"Looking for you, actually. Here, a gift from Jabberwock that he entrusted to me to deliver to you." Drake pulled the moonstone out of his belt pouch and held it out to the feather circle, who had gone very still.

"Oh. Is that a moonstone?" Drake nodded, wondering a little at the feather circle's behavior. "I see. In that case..." The feather circle shook hard, and there was a clatter as a stone fell from its feathery-furry covering to land on the rocks below it. The stone was scooped up with the feather circle's tail and offered to Drake. "There's a Garuda that lives on Popos Heights on the Mist Continent. You'll recognize him, he's very colorful. Give this to him, he'll be able to direct you to where Yan is." Drake blinked, and exchanged the moonstone for the tear drop shaped lapis lazuli stone that he was being given. "I'd heard from Nymph that summoners were needed, but I didn't think I would be one of them..."

"If Dagger and I could handle it on our own, we would," Eiko piped up, sounding a little sad. "We're the only of our tribe left anymore. They all died out when I was little." Odette frowned down at Eiko and knelt to hug her somewhat awkwardly.

"I'm not offended by being asked to help, it's just... I don't do well under pressure." The heart shape on the feather circle's flat side turned a little darker in what Drake realized was something of a blush. "I tried to summon just a little while ago, and failed, that's why I was getting chased."

"I'm sure the others will be willing to help you. You won't be alone, and I'm sure that with enough summoners around, even if you mess up a bit, someone else will pick up the slack so everything goes smoothly." Drake grinned and tilted his head at Freya. "That's the nice thing about working as a team. You've got someone to help clean up after your mess."

The feather circle giggled and did a loop-the-loop in place. Freya shook her head a little at Drake's claim that she helped him to clean up his messes, while Odette stood back up to draw her cloak closer to her body to try to keep warm.

"Might we continue this conversation somewhere out of the wind? My fingers are going numb despite the mittens." Drake blinked at Odette and frowned. She did look a little pale. He realized he still had his bow in his hand and slung it over his shoulder, blushing a little. Freya had gone to pick up his arrows, which he hadn't realized until she nudged him with them.

"Oh, thank you Freya. Yes, let's go find a cave or something along those lines." The feather circle hovered for a moment and then began to fly inland a bit. They all followed it, Drake pausing to glance back at the fallen whale zombie. Already it was crawling with crabs that were tearing it apart. He grimaced and trotted to catch up to the others.

The feather circle led them to a very comfortable looking cave, with a stack of firewood safely out of the way of any moisture. Drake stacked the wood up to make a fire as the feather circle dragged out some blankets from under a tarp. They smelled a little musty, but they kept them warm enough once Odette had used a small Fire spell to set the wood alight.

Drake gauged it to be about noon, and pulled out another still-warm canteen of tea to pass around, as well as several pasties that still steamed when they were bit into. There was enough even to share with the feather circle, who exclaimed over the food as if it had never tasted anything like it before. Drake made a mental note to try to talk Quina into making a feast for all the summoners once Ozma was taken care of. He was sure they all would enjoy it.

The best thing about befriending the feather circle was that it was able to lead them back to where they had been dropped off by the ship easily, knowing the area well enough to know a few shortcuts. They were able to warm up by the fire in the cave for most of the afternoon, though Drake found himself nodding off to sleep a couple of times before it was time to leave.

Everyone was surprised to see them not shivering and freezing, though the story they told of finding the feather circle over the soup that Quina had made explained why. The news that there were two more to find was welcomed, certainly. Freya even knew of the garuda community on Popos Heights near Gizamaluke's Grotto.

Drake was a little disappointed that they would be staying around Esto Gaza for several more days anyhow, because the cartographer wasn't done yet. Amarant suggested that he train with Sabin a little, and get better at fighting without using his hands. Sabin looked thoughtful at that.

"Could probably make a fighting style that doesn't need the user to let go of what they have in their hands," the monk mused as he stirred the soup in his bowl. "All the kicks that I'm aware of belong to styles that use the hands a fair amount. Wouldn't be a bad thing to contribute, really." Drake lifted his eyebrows at that, chewing a bit of firm meat that he'd scooped out of his soup bowl.

"I'd be willing to give it a try, but chances are that it's not gonna do much for me in the short run. Still, it'd be nice to have it be something to keep our attention for the short term. I know that I'm one of the first archers among the Chosen that has picked up a bit from the monk class. It'd be nice to see if go the other way, too." Sabin grinned at that and nodded.

"Is there much pressure to do something new?" Freya sounded curious. Drake and Sabin both nodded. "I wonder what it is that Fratley has studied..." Drake hid a smile as he sipped the broth of his soup out of his bowl.

"Dunno. Not familiar with the Dragoons. It's only recently that we've been able to talk to those of other classes. There any you know of, Drake?" The archer chewed the dregs of his soup and held up one finger.

"Just the one that's been talking to me. He's kind of weird, tends to flirt at the red mage that's apparently been assigned to work with me. He's not a burmecian, but she is. I haven't talked to her yet, but he's always full of stories about what it's like to be an einherjar. Nothing about his life and how Dragoons fight, only about their antics. I do have to admit, though, his stories of the meadhall do make me look forward to it a little." Sabin grinned at that.

"Aye, that's something alright. You should hear the stories the monks tell, they're the rowdiest, to tell the stories." Drake grinned a little at that. "Though there is one that has a distinct dislike of partying, I forget what his name is..."

"Is it Gala?" Sabin blinked at him before laughing. "Yeah, he's the monk in my group. He's not a talkative sort, that's for sure. But I've seen him training a little with one of the other monks, he's one of very few that can fight as easily with weapons as with his bare hands.

"He's one of the best at that. He ought to be a great help with you. Just wish you'd gotten one that acts a great deal more like the others. He can be a bit of a stick in the mud." Drake shrugged a little. He still had a wry smile on his face.

"Which archer is it that works with you? Any we've stories of?" Sabin nodded, grinning. "Should I guess?" Sabin shrugged and passed Drake a mug of tea. "Hmm...You'd have mentioned sooner if it was Lady Ailbhe. Celach? Edana the Flamebearer? Slaine of the Raven? Alana of the desert folk? Mor of the Line?" Over and over, Sabin shook his head.

"You always did favor the tales of warrior women. Little wonder you trothed yourself to one." Sabin glanced down the table at Odette. "Bran of the Sea." Drake's eyes widened. To Freya, who looked curious, he said, "Bran is a figure of ancient legend to us, a common ancestor to the tribes of Caledonia. Some stories name him as the Morrigan's father, others say he was her lover. All say that he was son to Odin, the great king of beyond the waters. He brought his kin to Caledonia, in a great ship with the head of a dragon on the prow. The lands were a den of great serpents back then. Bran and a great summoner the legends name Fiontan the White Flame worked together to banish them. Bran and his people settled the mountains while Fiontan settled in the place now known as Madain Sari. The clans always had a close tie with the summoners of Madain Sari, but our legends were separate ever since the beginning. I don't know what name Fiontan has with the summoners, but even the clans of the mountains see him as the equal to Bran, the first High King of Caledonia."

"Very few tales mention he used a bow, though. Most of them feature him wielding a spear or a staff like the sort Vivi uses. Though I suppose an unstrung bow could look like a walking staff enough to turn into one over time." Drake cupped the mug between his hands as he smiled slightly. "It's been a long time since I last thought of that tale. You are right, Sabin, I do tend to look to the lady heroes."

"There's very few of them that are mentioned in the legends of the Mist Continent. There are some stories of an archer named Brendan, though, that left across the sea. No mention of Odin in his tales, though." Drake and Sabin looked at each other for a moment, and Drake tilted his head.

"Brendan isn't far from Bran. Leaving to cross the sea, was that the end of his tale from the Mist Continent?" Freya nodded, and Drake sipped at his tea. "It would fit...Only thing to do is ask, really. Could be that neither tale is fully true, that's usually the case with legends." Sabin nodded as well.

"I'll try to remember to do so next time I see him. Time spent on the battlefield is...different. Things on this side of the veil don't seem to be quite as important, and any conflicts are momentary at best." Drake nodded, and sipped at his tea again.

"Legends born in Caledonia seem brighter compared to the stories of the Mist Continent," Odette said as she sat next to Sabin, a mug of tea in her own hand. "What was that one about the seal-folk? I remember hearing that one over the winter, but I must have been half asleep because I don't recall much of it." Sabin and Drake met eyes, and Drake gestured towards him.

"You tell that one better than I do." Sabin sighed and rolled his eyes but accepted a mug of steaming tea. Everyone else accepted a refill. About the only thing that Drake felt was missing was a crackling fire. There were rough woven blankets draped across everyone's shoulders, well-worn wood beneath his hands and rear, and he was surrounded by people that he trusted and loved.

"There are people of the sea who live as seals whilst the sun is out, and as men and women 'neath the moon. Oft-times they are known as selkies, gray seals whilst 'neath the foam an' bearin' cloaks an' hoods of seal fur while on land. Now there's many a tale of a selkie lass bein' trapped on the land by a fisherman as stole her hood to keep her as 'is wife. Ne'er a man, though. No, the men only e'er come ashore to find wives amongst the landwalkers in the legends. Or rather, they used to. Like the dwarves of Conde Petie, they quarrel wi' the mountain folk now. No one's seen 'em for at least a century, but they're the reason why the folk o' the mountains refuse to go to sea when they can help it.

"A long, long while ago there was a king o' the selkies known as Idris. Now 'e was a lad when Lady Ailbhe was bein' courted, but she'd 'ad a daughter that were only a few years younger'n him. It were her he lusted after, but he didn't dare chase after her while 'er ma was about. Lady Ailbhe was right fond of 'er daughter, only one she had. So one night, the lass, Gemma, went down t' the water's edge with some of 'er friends to wash an' play in the waves. Idris was watchin', an' while 'er friends' backs were turned, 'e took 'er, pulled a magicked seal hood over 'er shoulders, an' whisked 'er off to sea with 'im.

"Lady Ailbhe was enraged, 'o course, once she'd been told that 'er daughter was seen wi' the selkies on their rocks far off from shore. Gemma 'erself was doin' none too well, pinin' after the mountains and forests she'd taken to ridin' in as a lass. It's said that Idris 'imself was with 'er night an' day, chivvyin' her to eat for fear she'd starve 'erself to death.

"Five weeks it were, Gemma stayed with the selkies. She wasted away until Idris feared for 'er death. He allowed her to return to land after makin' her promise to return to him, bearing the fur hood he'd given her. Her ma fretted over 'er an' coaxed the story out of 'er as she nursed 'er only child back to health. Gemma had made the promise to return to the sea, but Lady Ailbhe refused to let 'er go once she'd returned to a portion of 'er former health.

"Idris was furious, o' course. 'Is bride had left 'is lands and 'er mother refused to give 'er back. On Samhain, 'e traveled up from the coast, wearin' 'is cloak of seal fur. As 'e walked 'e smutched it wi' dirt, hidin' the dappled pattern all seals 'ave. Lady Ailbhe wasna fooled by 'im, though. In the midst of the ceremony o' the Horned Child, she stopped and cried out that there was a man as came for 'er daughter, to starve 'er of the earth once 'gain. The young warriors o' the clans fell 'pon 'im, rode 'im down wi' their horses, weildin' sticks an' stones, chasin' 'im down to the edge o' the sea.

"Now some stories vary on whether they killed 'im or not, but Idris was ne'er seen by the folk o' the land e'er 'gain. But seals snarled at the folk o' the mountains each time they came to the shore, an' any ships as were sent out to catch fish failed to return, o'er and o'er and o'er again. Gemma gave birth to a child eight months after she returned to 'er ma's side. Some say that the child was born disfigured, other that it was stillborn. All say Lady Ailbhe was horrified by it, and none have the child livin' to adulthood. As for Gemma, she ne'er married and became an herbalist sought after by all the clans for 'er skills. Some say that durin' those five weeks she spent wi' the selkies she learned their secrets o' medicine. Other say she 'ad a touch o' magic, meybbe e'en was Chosen o' the healers. All's I can say is no one as was born in the mountains will willingly cross the sea on a boat."

Drake had to keep from laughing at the disconcerted looks on Odette and Freya's faces. Even Sabin was grinning. They were used to the more morbid legends that were known in the mountains. The one that Sabin had just related wasn't even the worst of those that had to do with the selkies, let alone the worst overall.

"That's horrible." Odette had a hand to her chest. Sabin patted her shoulder because Drake couldn't reach. "That sort of story is told to children?" Drake shrugged a little.

"It's a warning to stay away from the sea, same as that little poem I told the regent when we returned his wife to him is a warning to not follow strange lights at night. The mountains are full of dangerous things, and children are easy to pick off. It's better to scare children enough that they pay attention than to lose them."

As Sabin nodded, Odette sighed, still looking worried. Drake saw her eyes flick to Eiko, who was yawning into her tea. Sabin noticed as well and smiled wryly. They both were familiar with the reason why Drake's mother had been so worried about Eiko, but the others were starting to see the depths of the reason finally.

"Bed, everyone." Drake and Sabin both blinked at Dagger, who had her hands on her hips. "Vivi and Eiko need their sleep, and if everyone's up and moving around, they won't get the sleep they need." Drake grimaced a little at that, but glanced at the two youngest members of their group. The brim of Vivi's hat was resting on the table.

"Alright, I guess we should, if just for the kids." Drake drained the last of his tea and stood up, stretching. "We can tell more stories another day. Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll be hearing stories of ourselves." Sabin grinned at that.

"Hahaha! The only ones that might get lone stories are you and Odette." Drake swiped a hand at Sabin half-heartedly before heading towards the beds. Sabin didn't even have to dodge, and his laughter followed Drake as he ushered Vivi and Eiko to bed.

That night, he dreamed of being beset by monsters no matter where he went. Dragons swooped t him from the sky, scaled beasts crept out of the Mist to snap and snarl at him, and angry seals, larger than a horse, surged out of the ocean to threaten to crush him. Every time he turned to run, there was another creature there to attack him.

He flailed and fell out of bed, panting as he lay on the frigid metal floor, staring up at the dim golden lights reflected from lanterns near the open spaces. He sat up after he was sure that he was finally awake and wiped the fear-sweat from his skin, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

No one else was awake as he stood and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders to keep himself warm. He paused at the clock and squinted at it. He grimaced as he realized it was 3 AM, because there was no way that he was going to be able to get back to sleep after a nightmare like that one.

Seeing the blue-tinted landscape outside the bridge, Drake sighed with relief. Some part of his mind had been screeching that the dream was warning that they were about to be attacked, but there were still no monsters to be seen. He sat down against the wall and folded the blanket around him.

The terror of the dream faded slowly as Drake meditated, watching the clouds scudding across the sky in front of the moon. There was only one now, all the fragments having long since crashed to the surface of Gaia. He found himself wondering who the last boy to lead the Ride of the Horned Child was. He would have to be sure to find that out once he returned to the mountains.

"At the very least, the record of lads led on the ride will never be broken," he murmured to himself, and took a deep breath in. He tensed all the muscles of his body before relaxing them slowly, and felt the last of his worry about the nightmare fade.

"That it won't." Drake jumped and started to lurch to his feet at the voice, and paused half up as he realized it was just Lady Maria. She smiled wryly at him, and he took a deep breath before sitting back down with a soft thump. She was dressed as a warrior from the mountains, wearing a wolf fur draped over the brown wool cloak. "My apologies, I didn't think to warn you I was here."

"Thankfully I was sitting," he said wryly, and adjusted the blanket around him again. "Did you need something of me, milady?" The Constellato sat next to him, arranging her cloak like a grand lady would arrange her skirts.

"Just to speak with you. I needn't have a reason to wish to speak with my Chosen." Drake dropped his gaze to his lap for a moment. "You've grown wonderfully since I gave you my favor. You've fulfilled every expectation and exceeded them. I've spoken to the other Constellato, and they agree that to take the Chosen away from the common folk would be to remove the hope it gives, and the drive it allows warriors like you." Drake shrugged.

"I feel a little bad about how little time I'll spend as Chosen, though. It's only been a year and a half since I accepted this feather from you as you delivered me to Lindblum." Lady Maria smiled a little at that and offered him a steaming canteen. Drake sniffed it before sipping. He winced, the liquid scalding his mouth.

"The greatest flames burn for the shortest amounts of time. Better that you retire than die. That way you can pass on your skills to the living as well as the Chosen." She accepted the canteen back, and sipped it. "Already tales are being told of you and your companions, both in Caledonia and Alexandria. Some more accurate than others." Next to be offered him was a fruit-studded loaf, which Lady Maria broke in half to share with him. He accepted it gratefully and nibbled on it, looking out over the bridge and the landscape past it.

"I suppose that's to be expected, it is the nature of legends. What no one tells you about adventures is that it's no fun being in the middle of one. The only time it's fun is when you've got the veil of nostalgia between you and the danger. Already, the horror of Burmecia is fading somewhat." Maria let him ramble on, offering him the canteen of tea whenever his throat became dry. When his worries were all vented, she directed the topic towards the problems of the Einherjar.

"The paladins are yet unrepresented, and the last paladin doubts herself. There are no more dark knights to balance the scale anymore." Drake propped his chin on his hand, his elbow digging into his knee. "Once this problem is resolved, only then will the meadhall doors be able to open."

The clatter of Quina in the galley startled Drake into looking, and he swore as he spilled hot tea on himself. When he looked back, Lady Maria was gone, but the other half of the fruit roll and the canteen of hot tea remained. With a sigh, Drake chewed the other half of the roll and stared out over the landscape again.

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 **End Notes:** The next chapter is the last one to concentrate on the friendly monsters, I promise. After that is the Ozma fight, and then we go back to the non-optional part of the story.


	4. To Hell and Beyond

**Author's Notes:** I forgot that I needed to upload this chapter, whoops. Good thing I actually went and looked which one was up. I do think that once I'm done with the end of this I'm going to go back and edit the earlier chapters, though. My writing has improved so much over the years.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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 **Chapter 4:** To Hell and Beyond

Drake groaned as he shut the book and rubbed at his eyes. He knew he wasn't the only one feeling the strain of looking through the tiny text of the books in this massive library. They were only there overnight, on their way back to the Mist Continent finally, albeit through a roundabout way that allowed the cartographer to map certain places that were arrayed on islands.

Everyone had agreed that it would be a good idea to stop by Dageurreo so that they could try to find any information on the sealed eidolon that they would have to face. So far, no one had been able to find anything useful, but not for lack of trying.

Eiko and Vivi had gotten bored quickly, and went to look for stories. Drake was sure that they had found a scholar that wasn't busy and pestered him until he found a book of legends to read aloud to them, because he hadn't heard from them in several hours. He was looking over old maps to try to figure out where Vile Island was. He probably would recognize it if he'd had the map from the game in front of him, but he didn't. Most of the maps were half-filled, missing or warping most everything except for either the Mist Continent or Caledonia, depending on where the cartographer had been from.

After he'd looked at all the maps, he'd tried searching for any indication of Yans, which were few and far between. Most of the scholars had given him a blank look when he had asked for their help on the matter. He'd finally found someone who recognized the word enough to point him at a bestiary that had mentioned them. The book hadn't been useful in the least, the writer had been going off of legends told to him by an unnamed person.

"Well, you look frustrated." Drake turned to level a flat glare at Edgar. "What were you looking for?" Drake heaved a sigh and gestured at the book he'd just shut. Edgar tilted his head to the side so that he could read the title.

"Trying to figure out what a Yan is like, because one of the last two summoners we need to find is one. Absolutely nothing concrete in this book, though." Edgar chuckled a bit at that. "All I've got is that they're apparently terrifying creatures."

"Well, we'll figure out soon enough. Zidane told me to come find you." Drake frowned and looked around in case there was a clock. "The sun came up an hour ago. You really had your nose in that book, didn't you?" Drake nodded and carried the book to the desk the librarians had told him was for returning books so they could be put back into their proper places and left it there.

"Well, the garuda we're supposed to find apparently knows where to find the last summoner we need to find, but still, it'd be nice if we had an idea of where to go first." Edgar shrugged, and they took a lift down to the entrance floor, where the rest were waiting for them.

"At least you can sleep while we're traveling. I don't think I've ever known you to stay up all night reading anything. Is that a new thing?" Drake automatically shook his head without thinking about how he was going to explain why it wasn't a new thing. "I'm surprised that the librarians didn't come by to tell you to put the lamp out to save oil." Drake shrugged.

"For all I know, they could have. I was too busy scowling at tiny writing." Drake ran his fingers through his hair and smiled sheepishly at the people that were waiting for them. Odette looked sleepy but amused, and Sabin looked grumpy. Zidane had started to herd people out as soon as he'd seen Edgar herding Drake towards the exit.

"You didn't sleep at all, did you," Odette said with a small smile. Drake shook his head a little, and Odette sighed a bit, still smiling. "Once we get back on the Invincible, I'm going to make sure you at least nap. The light controls have to be decently easy to control, I've seen Zidane play with them while half asleep before." Drake blinked at that.

"...I thought they were automatic." Odette snorted, and the four of them started across the bridge to where the Invincible had been parked. "Well that just shows how much I pay attention to technology." The rest of what Drake was going to say was swallowed up in a yawn that made his jaw creak.

"You're still more used to it than anyone else, you've got more recent memories of such things than I do, and everyone else is learning about it for the first time." Drake shrugged and rubbed at his face. It took them a while to get to the Invincible, but few monsters bothered them. Odette was able to handle most of them on her own, but those that took a bit more, Sabin jumped in to help.

Drake managed to fall asleep before the ship even took off, and didn't wake back up until noon, when they stopped at Alexandria. The cargo bay was darker than he was used to seeing it during the day, so he didn't know what time it was until he stumbled out to the dining area and was told what time it was.

They parked over by Burmecia that night, and Drake watched the rain sliding down the windscreen of the Invincible until the fading light made it impossible to see aymore. Then he went and laid down and was surprised when he was able to sleep, and slept deeply enough that he spent time on the battlefield.

The Einherjar that had been ignoring him before deigned to talk to him finally. Lyn, the red mage, still ignored Jay, the dragoon, but cast annoyed looks at the dancer that was teasing her. Apparently Lyn and Jay were together, and Lyn was shy about displaying any sort of affection in public. Key, the soft-spoken chemist, tried to distract Tess from teasing by reminding her that they still had to talk to Drake. The scholar of the group, Violet, seemed oblivious to the teasing.

Drake felt like his mind was stuffed to bursting by the time he woke up. He was one of the last ones to get up, and accepted the mug of coffee that Quina offered him as he yawned. The cartographer had been dropped off at Alexandria, but had managed to make a copy of his map that he had left with them.

That map went into Drake's belt pouch where it would be safe from the rain, and they dropped half of the group off at Burmecia to see how the reconstruction was going. Drake and the other half of the group went to the place where they'd been told the Garuda they were looking for lived.

Zidane seemed pleased to be able to go out and wander around instead of having to babysit the cartographer, and spent at least part of the trip jumping from tree to tree just because he could. When Odette informed him that she didn't have the skill to put back together more than a couple of bones at a time, he climbed back down.

Drake felt like his skin was crawling after a while because of the Mist around them, and called a stop just inside of a small clearing. He rubbed his bared skin, grimacing a bit. Odette looked unnerved as well, but the only reason Drake could tell was because he knew how to read her properly.

"So anyone seen a colorful Garuda yet? Or any sign of one?" Zidane sounded perkier than normal, much to Drake's disgust. Still, he accepted a tart that Quina had made that morning and chomped into it instead of snapping at his blood brother. Odette sat next to him, quietly taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"No sign of any Garuda yet. This is Popos Heights, right?" Drake frowned and squinted up at the sky, chewing still. He was pretty sure that they were on Popos Heights, they had climbed up the side of the mountain right by Gizamaluke's Grotto.

"I saw a dragon's territorial marking," Amarant said finally. He was still trailing along after Drake to make sure he didn't get into trouble, but having Zidane around made him quieter than normal. Drake half suspected he was studying the Genome to try to understand him still.

"Hmm...I remember there being mentioned that Garuda and a certain type of dragon share territory," Odette mused before taking another bite of food. Drake just winced. Dragons tended to dislike him, so he tended to avoid them as much as possible.

"That we do!" Everyone jumped, and Drake's eyes snapped to the source of the voice. A Garuda with the coloration of a parrot was perched on a tree in front of them, rocking from side to side. "I understand you're looking for me? What for?" Drake blinked for a moment. He wasn't quite sure what to say for a moment. Each of the summoners had been different. This one was cheerful and friendly.

"Uh." It took a few moments for Drake to gather his thoughts. "The Constellato told us to look for summoners from amongst non-humanoids. There was a Feather Circle by Esto Gaza that told us to find you, and also said you'd be able to tell us where to find a summoner among the Yans." Garuda clacked his beak for a moment, shifting from foot to foot as they thought.

"Nymph did mention something about that last time I talked to her. I can't tell you exactly where to find Yan, but I know where they live near. Also..." Garuda squinted at Drake until the archer pulled out the teardrop-shaped lapis lazuli stone. Garuda fluttered down to land in front of Drake and gingerly took the stone from him, tucking it under its wing somewhere. "Thank you. I loaned this to Feather Circle last time I saw them. Here, give this to Yan when you see them."

Drake blinked at the stone that was dropped in his hands after Garuda had pulled it from under their wing. A square cut stone that he almost thought was quartz lay in his palm. His memories told him that it should be a diamond, but he had never heard of a diamond that big. It was heavy, too.

"You should find them on an island near a really really big tree. With a mountain. None of us ever go to visit them there, it's too dangerous for us, but they always talk about two things. A big tree that can be seen even though it's not on the island, and the mountain on the island." Drake blinked, and his eyes widened all of a sudden.

"Oh! I know where that is!" He was surprised that it had taken him so long to remember where Vile Island was. Now that he was thinking, though, perhaps he'd mistaken another destination for Vile Island. That one would be a pain to find.

"I'm glad you do, because I don't," Zidane drawled, staring at the stone Drake held. The archer handed him the stone to look at before looking back at Garuda, who was staring at him intently. Drake tilted his head to the side, wondering what had the Garuda staring at him so much.

"You should bring things that protect against darkness. It's the rare eidolon that has power over it, but a proto-eidolon would have power over every element." Garuda's wings flicked for a moment. "Either that or something with the reflect status built into it. Humanoids are so good at making things." Drake blinked a little at that.

"We'll try to remember that, thank you." Garuda clacked their beak, looking pleased, and then took off in a shower of colored feathers. Drake picked a couple up off the ground to look at them as Zidane held the stone up to the light.

"I have no idea what this is, but it's not quartz. Or glass." Drake glanced back at Zidane and handed the feather to Odette, who tucked it into her braid with a small smile. Zidane handed the stone back to Drake when the archer gestured for it, but jumped as Drake found a stone to strike the gem against. "Woah, hey, careful with that!" Drake blew dust off of the gem and held it up before nodding. There wasn't so much as a scratch on it.

"Thought so. Diamond. It's the hardest stone. Unless there's a type of stone that's here on Gaia but not on Earth, but I'm starting to doubt that." Drake grinned at Zidane, who frowned. "This particular stone would be worth so much money on Earth. For some reason, people like diamonds there." Odette giggled.

"That's not the case here, though. People aren't as fond of colorless stones, unless they're using it for magic." Drake shrugged and put the stone in his belt pouch. This particular stone was spoken for anyhow. "Well, shall we get going? Preferably before any of the local dragons take notice of us?" More than one person glanced at the sky before they started back to where they left the Invincible.

Drake was distracted by the map for most of the trip back to Burmecia. Quina had apparently spent the entire day cooking for the people building Burmecia back up, and had brought some of that back to the ship in a large clay pot that Sabin had to carry.

Everyone was more occupied with eating as soon as possible than they were about finding out about the summoner. Quina's food was better than usual, probably because he/she had had more time to make the meal and had been cooking for more people than usual. Only once they were mopping up the last of the stew in their bowls with stale bread.

"So, you find that summoner today?" Drake nodded and dug in his belt pouch to find the diamond that Garuda had given him. Edgar leaned forwards at the object, looking fascinated. "Woah, that's a big stone. So where's the next summoner?" Drake sighed and leaned back as much as he could on a bench.

"You're not gonna like it." Both Sabin and Edgar gave him flat looks. Drake smiled wryly. "Vile Island." Sabin choked on his roll, and Edgar's face went white. "Yeah. Garuda didn't know our name for it, and has never been there, but it's kind of hard to recognize 'island with a mountain able to see a really big tree that doesn't grow on the mountain' as anything other than it." Sabin finally caught his breath and Edgar groaned, leaning forwards to place his forehead on the table.

"Why there?!" Drake shrugged as everyone else stared at the three of them. Edgar must have felt their stares, because he explained with his face still against the tabletop. "Vile Island is kind of a legend from Figaro. No one really talks about it anymore because most of the people that knew about it were killed. No one has ever come back from Vile Island, dead or alive. The only information we have about it comes from people who had gone past the island on a ship." Now everyone else seemed to understand why the brothers had had that particular reaction.

"Wait, so we have to go someplace that no one really knows what's there?" Drake nodded and sighed as Edgar finally sat up to glare at him. Zidane rubbed at his face with a groan. "Okay, so we need to approach this kind of like how we approached going to Terra. Not like we've only ever gone places where people went before us." Drake tilted his head to the side, Zidane had a point there.

"So back to Alexandria, get some supplies, and then head back over to Caledonia?" Everyone nodded, and Drake slid off of his bench. "Awesome. I'm gonna go crash, I haven't exactly slept very well lately." Drake walked off with a small smile and a wave, even though a couple of people looked slightly concerned that he had actually admitted he hadn't been sleeping well.

They spent only the morning gathering supplies from Alexandria. Drake wasn't part of the group that went into town, which he didn't mind. It gave him a chance to go over the map to see how many islands were even near the Iifa tree. They would have to do some hunting, yes, but if he managed to find the island before they got there, it would take less time to find the Yan so they could get off the island before anything horrible happened to them.

As the sun set, they saw the crown of the Iifa Tree peek over the horizon, casting a shadow on the sky as the sun sank behind it. Drake frowned at it, even as Zidane ordered the ship to land for the night, perched on a mountain that Edgar and Sabin had assured him wasn't habitated by a clan.

Drake found it nigh impossible to sleep that night, laying awake for a while before getting up to pace around the bridge. Eventually, he sat in front of the massive window and folded his legs in front of him. Meditation was significantly easier to manage than sleep, even if it did leave him somewhat tired once everyone else woke up. The coffee that Quina gave him helped a great deal, at any rate.

The ship skirted around the Iifa tree, and after a while, Drake spotted the island he was pretty sure was Vile Island. They flew over the island before Zidane finally found a place to set down near the shore. Drake had to take a few deep breaths before leading the group that had volunteered to go looking for the summoner off the ship. Sabin was still sulking that he'd been ordered by both Drake and Edgar not to come with.

The Mist made Drake jumpier than usual, especially when the wind stirred it up so he thought he saw movement where there was none. Even taking deep breaths didn't help much when most of what he was breathing in was what made him so jumpy in the first place. Getting to the forest did, for some odd reason, even though it increased the likelihood that they would get ambushed.

They didn't see anything for quite a while, which actually started to strike Drake as unusual. He wasn't the only one needing to stop to rest at that point, either, so they stopped in a clearing to sit and have some of the tea that Quina had made for them.

Drake was starting to feel the lack of sleep in a serious way, and was starting to nod off despite the dangerous situation. He ended up leaning against Edgar as he tried to keep from falling asleep as his companions talked quietly to each other. Some time later, he came awake with a start, listening intently. The others hadn't stopped chatting, though Edgar did notice when Drake tensed up. Shortly, everyone was looking at him as he scanned the forest in front of him.

"The birds stopped singing," was all that Drake said, though he kept his voice low. Edgar stiffened at that, knowing what Drake meant by it. Odette hadn't ever learned woodcraft, so she was understandably confused, though by the way that Amarant went silent, he had at least a vague idea of what Drake was warning them about.

"Why does that matter?" Drake sighed and heaved himself to his feet, feeling better for the brief nap. He stretched, though he was still looking around as he did so. The problem with noticing danger because the birds shut up was that you still had to spot the danger yourself. "Oh look, a sheep got lost." Drake tensed and turned to look at what Odette had noticed.

It was a Yan, and judging by the light coloration of its head, it wasn't the one they were looking for. Drake turned his head and saw two more stepping out of the brush. He reached out and stopped Odette as she was about to start towards them.

"I think we should get going," he said softly, starting to back up. "I don't think those are friendly." Drake turned his head to look at Amarant. "And please, no repeats of Ipsen." The monk scoffed under his breath, but backed away from the Yan anyhow. Their wariness didn't work to keep them out of the fight; the Yans charged.

If not for the protective spell that Odette threw up, Drake was pretty sure that one of them would not have made it back to the ship. Odette mixed a wind spell and a protect spell to launch the Yans away from them as they rushed back towards the ship. Edgar had to shove Drake to get him moving when he otherwise would have run alongside Odette.

Magically-hurled rocks nearly killed them as they ran. Odette had to use wind spells to knock the rocks away as Amarant watched her back. Drake scanned ahead of them as they ran, but didn't watch where his feet were landing. He yelped as his foot broke through a thin crust of plants and protected his head and face as he plummeted. He heard Edgar yell from above him, and stopped falling finally.

"I'm alright!" He pushed himself up and shook his head a bit before looking around. It looked like he had fallen into a den of some sort, but he didn't see what it belonged to. Looking up, he could see the hole he fell through, and Edgar glancing between him and the fight that was headed towards him. He had fallen quite a ways, and the wall looked crumbly. "I don't think I can get back out the same way I came down, though."

"No, you likely can't." Drake jumped at the voice, and spun to look at who had spoken. A Yan with a dark head got up from what looked like a nest with a small grunt. "It's been a very long time since I saw humans here. Tell your friends they can hide down here, I'll deal with my kin for you later." Drake blinked a couple of times before looking up.

"There's a friendly down here, offering us a hiding spot for the time being." Edgar stared at him for a moment, and Drake smiled wryly. "Yeah, not the most elegant way of finding a hiding spot, but any port in a storm, right?" Edgar groaned and looked up again, whistling to get Odette and Amarant's attention. They made it to where Edgar was pretty quickly, and Ed showed them the hole by jumping down it. Odette didn't seem to want to take the plunge, but Amarant picked her up and jumped down with her.

Interestingly enough, the hostile Yans didn't stick around after sniffing around the hole. Drake peered up for a moment after they left before turning to look at the Yan that was moving around nudging things. A soft light made him blink as a cast-off horn was tipped off of a fungus of some sort that glowed. He glanced around before sitting down in a cleared spot, adjusting his bow on his back.

"They won't try to attack you around me," their host said finally, moving to sit in front of them. "I wish I had food or something to offer, but I've never been host to anyone before. Usually the only humans I see are...well, what's left of them after my kin get to them." Drake grimaced at that. "They don't dare anger me, even though we Yan were blessed by the gods with power unlike any other species. I'm the only one that has studied the summoning arts." Drake blinked.

"Oh, then you're the one we came to speak to!" The Yan nodded, and Drake reached into his belt pouch to pull out the diamond that Garuda had given him. The archer set it in front of Yan, who got up and nosed it a bit. "Garuda told us to bring this to you." Yan nodded and sat back down.

"Yes, Nymph informed me of your request. With this stone, I should be able to lead the other summoners in placing a brief seal on Ozma. It will take a few days before we will be prepared, though. I'm afraid we aren't privy to where Ozma was sealed, though, so you ought to search for that while we do so." Drake nodded, and glanced upwards as the sounds of angry Yans filtered down.

"I believe we can ask for some help from the Constellato for that. Garuda suggested that we find things to protect against dark magic. Can you think of anything else that might help?" Yan shifted their feet a few times, blinking slowly as they thought.

"Regenerative magic would go a long ways in helping. Having it on a charm or something like that would help a great deal if you're using Reflect spells, too." Drake blinked at that. It sounded like it was the same type of advice that Garuda had given them. "Everything else is dependent on the area that Ozma was sealed into. You will need all the combatants you have, though. We will pray for your success."

Yan got up and started to walk to one side of his den. Drake turned his attention that way as there was a scuffling sound, and tensed as another Yan appeared. Their new friend stepped between the new Yan and the visiting adventurers and lowered its head, presenting its horns while growling. The new Yan tried to edge past the friendly one, magic crackling around its horns.

Another pulse of magic from the friendly Yan scattered the magic from the aggressive one, and the intruder was forced back out of the den. There was a loud thump noise of air being displaced from above ground, and silence suddenly fell over the forest. The friendly Yan came back down looking self-satisfied and proud of themself.

"Sorry about that, every once in a while I need to remind them that there's a reason they don't anger me. Now would be the best time to get you back to your ship, while the lesson is still fresh in their minds." Drake blinked before nodding and looking at the others. Odette was already starting to stand up and brush herself off.

"That sounds like a good idea, actually. The only reason we came here was to deliver the diamond to you." Drake stood and bumped his head against the roof as he straightened up. "Ow." Edgar chuckled a bit at that and stood as well, though he didn't hit his head on the roof of the cave.

There weren't any Yans besides their guide by the time they crawled out of the den, and the trip back to the Invincible was calm enough. When he turned to wave to Yan, though, he saw a crowd of unfriendly Yans just outside the forest they had walked into. Drake eyed them for a moment before stepping into the ship.

"We'll have to write down what's there," Edgar was telling Sabin. "We know why no one's come back before. If not for finding the summoner, I think we'd have joined the list of people that disappeared here." Drake made a headcount before waving to Zidane that they could leave. Then he went and sat down on a bench with a sigh.

After a while, he started to feel better. He had stopped being aware of the effect the Mist had on him while he was down there, but now he could feel himself unwinding. He still felt like he needed a shower in the worst way possible, but at least he no longer felt like he had to have eyes on the back of his head to stay safe.

Drake pulled a piece of wood from his belt pouch and started to sketch on it with the tip of his beltknife. In a moment, he had the outline of a Yan as seen from the side on one end and the outline of a Yan from the front on the side next to it.

"So, did we get any suggestions about how to tackle Ozma?" Drake glanced up from his little block of wood as Zidane walked over to sit next to him. A glance towards the controls got Zidane grinning. "There's a thing that flies the ship automatically if it's to a previously logged point. We're on our way to Dageurreo." Drake sighed a little at that.

"Both Yan and Garuda suggested we either find a way to protect against dark magic or have regenerative magic charms and reflect magic charms. We'll probably also need lots of potions and the like, even with regen spells." Drake twirled his knife in his fingers as he looked at the piece of wood without seeing it. "Lots of ethers as well. Gods only know where the fight will be, though. Or, well, to be more specific, I think the Costellato are the only ones that know where it is." Zidane sighed at that.

"Well, Dageurro has a pretty good stockpile of stronger potions and the like, and has some of the best artisans in the world, it's not a bad idea to stock up there. That's where Leviathan is, unless I'm mistaken, too." Drake thought for a moment before nodding.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm pretty sure I can get a bath there, too. Every time I go into the Mist, I feel like it sticks to me." Drake rubbed the bare skin of his draw arm as if that would get rid of the feeling. "I'm looking forwards to not having to deal with that feeling anymore." Zidane grimaced a little at that.

"I've never felt that, to be honest. To me it just feels like I'm walking through a cloud, like what you get at the higher altitudes." Drake shrugged a bit and glanced subtly at Odette. She kept trying to wipe off her bared skin, a slightly strained look of polite interest on her face as she listened to Eiko.

"I think it might have something to do with the differences Odette and I have compared to the rest of you." Zidane frowned a little at that and glanced at Odette. "I've had this problem with the Mist ever since the two halves of my soul merged the first time, in Lindblum. I don't think it happened beforehand." Drake sighed and put his beltknife away, spinning the block of wood in his fingers.

"Makes sense. What type of person does Leviathan bless, anyhow? I don't think I've heard." Drake tilted his head to the side and put the piece of wood away before he got a splinter from it. Part of him was trying to figure out when they would get to the ancient library.

"Scholars. Doctor Tot is Leviathan's Chosen right now." Zidane rocked back with an odd look, and Drake blinked at him. "What were you expecting, with Leviathan residing in a library?" Drake shook his head with a small smile and stretched his legs out in front of him, taking a deep breath to try to work out the last of the anxiety that always gripped him in the Mist. "I'm gonna go walk around the ship, I don't think sitting is going to help right now." Zidane shrugged, and Drake patted the switch to open the door leading to the hallways.

Moving both helped Drake and didn't. The Mist clinging to his skin kept making him think that he saw things out of the corner of his eye, and the feeling was already natural to the ship, so it just intensified things. Keeping moving did allow him to get rid of the extra energy that the adrenaline gave him.

Eventually he adjusted to the feeling and made it back to the common area of the ship in time for a quick meal. Then he went pacing again. Odette looked concerned as he left again, but he noticed Zidane talking to him. Amarant found him after a while when he sat to rest his legs, still feeling fidgety.

"This thing with Ozma," Amarant began, and Drake looked up. The monk crouched to sit on the other side of the hallway. "Did you know about it?" Drake took a deep breath in as he rubbed at his calves, feeling them twitch under his boots.

"Yes and no. Not all iterations of the story included them. Most preferred to err on the side of accuracy, seeing as there isn't much about them that even we know. I'm sure you remember that there were things that the stories left out. For the most part, what happened with you was glossed over. The stories always followed Zidane more than anyone else. That's how I knew what was happening in Terra. I know only a little of what Kuja is doing. I know how he gets taken down in the stories, but those stories don't include me and Odette, let alone Sabin and Edgar." Drake sighed and folded his legs in front of him.

"So tell me." Drake blinked at Amarant, who sat as well. "Pacing isn't going to help you with the anxiety that's eating you. There isn't much that's left for you to hide, is there?" Drake shook his head and took a deep breath, his mind whirling.

"No, there really isn't. I'm just...not sure where to begin." Drake rubbed at his face for a moment, and closed his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. "My memories of it are a little on the foggy side as well, which doesn't help a whole lot. Basically, what Kuja is doing up there is opening a portal through time and space to that which birthed all life. On Gaia, on Earth, on Terra, too, I think. I don't know how he came to know about it. I don't think anyone can really wrap their minds around exactly how we're going to get there. All I know for sure is that there are a lot of enemies that will stand in our way." Amarant stared at him before sighing.

"If you can't put it into words, I'm sure it's truly bizarre. What have you heard of Ozma that wasn't here?" Drake drummed his fingers on his boot, chewing on his lower lip. His eyes were focused on the wall above Amarant's head.

"They were described as a sphere of swirling, constantly changing color. That's really the only thing I can remember." Drake grimaced. He had never looked into what it took to beat Ozma, and he had a feeling that it was about to come back to bite him in the ass.

"Huh. And the summoners said that it fights using magic?" Drake nodded, though he was still frowning. He had no idea how it actually fought. The summoners would know better than he would about that. The problem still lay in how to get where Ozma was, and finding it in the first place.

"Drake! Amarant! We're almost to Daggureo!" Both of them turned to look down the hall. Sabin had spotted them. Drake heaved himself up onto his feet with a grunt, wondering just how long he had spent pacing around the ship. Amarant padded along after Drake quietly enough that rake had to wonder if he'd been trained to be the Gaian equivalent of a ninja.

"That's good, means I get to take a shower soon. I need one." Drake ran his fingers through his hair, shuddering just a little bit. "I still feel like it's sticking to me." Both of them stared at him, and he shrugged. "Can't explain why, but the Mist just creeps me out."

"Well, the shower is waiting." Sabin shrugged a little at Drake with a small grin. Drake rolled his eyes and shoved his blood brother as he fell in step alongside him. The others were waiting by the warp down to the ground, and Drake smiled sheepishly at them.

There was a small scuffle with a Gimme Cat halfway to Daggureo, but shouting at it to go away whenever it begged for precious stones kept it from bothering them too much. As soon as they got into the library, Drake asked around until he was shown where the librarians took their baths. There was even hot water, hot enough that he had to slide into it slowly so that he could adjust to it.

He got the feel of the Mist off of his skin first and the soaked for a bit before pulling himself out and drying off. It would be kind of ridiculous if he'd needed someone to pull him out if he allowed the heat to sap all his strength. He got dressed in a clean change of clothes and stepped out to find his friends.

Odette wasn't present, probably still bathing and cleaning her hair, though the rest of the group was there, gathered around the map that Zidane had asked for before Drake went to bathe. Drake peered over Edgar's shoulder before hooking an arm around his neck and tugging to the side a little. He grunted as that got him an elbow to the gut and everyone's attention.

"Don't do that, Drake." Edgar sounded a little shaken, glaring at the archer until he got an apologetic smile. "With how tense everyone is, I might have hurt you." Drake shrugged and glanced at the map. There was nothing set on it besides at the corners to keep it from rolling back up.

"So, brainstorming? Has one of the Constellato stopped by to give information?" Edgar shook his head at that. "So why is everyone staring at the map? We don't have anywhere to start." Drake was aware that his voice sounded light and care-free. He felt the exact opposite, but if he acted as serious as the rest of them, they wouldn't be able to think straight for the stress.

"Not much else we can do, Dagger and Freya are off trying to find the equipment we need. Dagger has the funds, and Freya's got an eye for enchanted gear." Drake grimaced a little and ran his fingers over the edge of the map.

"Makes sense. Eiko, do you think you could get Leviathan's attention? He's a summon as well as a Constellato, after all." Drake scratched the back of his neck, leaning his weight on his other hand. "I have a vague idea of how to get Lady Maria's attention, but she's the one I bow to."

"I don't think so. I can't summon him, but Dagger can. Maybe we should ask the scholars? They ought to know how." Drake shrugged, then winced as his stomach growled. "Though maybe we should get some food first." Eiko was grinning as Drake rolled his eyes.

"I probably could use a bit of food, yeah. I didn't eat that much on the ship." Sabin laughed an moved away from the table. He hooked an arm around Drake's neck to drag him along. "H-hey!" Drake hopped a bit before turning around and ducking out from under Sabin's arm.

By the time the two of them came back from hunting down food, Dagger and Freya were on their way back, with a basket full of potions each. Drake lifted his eyebrows at that, though he also had a basket of bread rolls hanging from his elbow. Odette was standing next to Edgar at that point, her hair braided and pinned up to keep from dripping on her clothing.

"Ooh, food!" Odette smiled at Drake, her eyes flicking between his face and the basket he held. Drake chuckled and set the basket down next to her so she could dig into it. Drake waved to Dagger as she set her basket down with a sigh.

"The best potions money can buy, lots of ethers, and we've talked to the synthesist so he's making the charms we need. Turns out that Odette only needs something to hold a Reflect spell over her without her having to pay attention to it, he looked amused when we described the ring she wears." Drake felt his ears heating up.

"That's probably because he's the one that made it." Drake ran his fingers over his ear cuff, avoiding looking at anyone. He had thought he'd lost the shyness about having proposed to Odette, but apparently not.

"Makes sense. The charms aren't all in the form of rings, right?" Freya and Dagger both shook their heads to Sabin's question. "Good. Rings would probably break my fingers if I had to fight with them on." Drake glanced over at Sabin before shrugging a little. He didn't like wearing a ring because it pinched when he used his bow.

"We thought as much. He said he'd charm some ribbons to hold all the charms needed. It'd be easier to keep on than a set of rings." Drake blinked a bit at that, and his had went to the ribbon he was wearing on his arm again. "Has anyone been able to get in contact with the Constellato?"

"No. We were hoping you'd be able to get Leviathan's attention, Dagger, seeing as you can summon him." Dagger blinked at that then paused for a moment before pulling an aquamarine out from her belt pouch. Drake was pretty sure that it had the same type of magic on it as his did. It glinted as she set it on the table next to the map.

A few moments after it was set on the table, it glowed softly. Drake blinked and glanced around subtly, wondering if the Constellato was going to appear. The thing that changed was a drip of water that landed square on the map, and more than one person rushed forwards to dry it off quickly. Drake was one of them, and paused as he saw where the water drop landed. Zidane was already patting the water off of the map so that the ink wouldn't run.

"Hey, Ed." Drake leaned forwards and shoved Zidane's hands aside, leaning over the map. The ink hadn't even smudged. "What's this little island in the strait between Caledonia and the moogle homeland?" Everyone blinked at that, but the paper around the island was wet from the drop of water.

"Oh, that's the Pillar of the World. No one knows what's on top, it's impossible to climb it and the top is up above the clouds. Why?" Drake straightened back up and glanced at the aquamarine. It wasn't glowing anymore.

"I think we just got our answer of where Ozma is. Does Figaro have any legends about it?" Ed paused and thought for a moment before frowning and shaking his head. Drake looked to Sabin who shook his head with a clueless look on his face.

"There might have been one, but all Ed and I ever heard about it was its name. It wouldn't hurt to try looking there once we're prepared, though. We do need to get back in contact with the summoners, though." Drake nodded at that and ran his fingers through his hair as he looked at the map. "It is kind of weird that Leviathan didn't bother to talk, though." Drake laughed at Sabin's griping.

"I dunno, it seems kind of fitting. He's the Constellato of scholars, so he was probably a bit busy when we bothered him." Dagger shrugged, a small smile on her face, and picked the stone back up. She rolled it around on her hand before putting it back in her belt pouch.

"Okay, can you spread out the potions and such you got? We should organize them according to who holds them. And figure out what role everyone is going to have in the battle." Zidane switched tracks pretty quickly, and everyone blinked at him before accepting that they apparently found where the fight was going to be.

Hours later, Drake went exploring, and found his way to the very top of the library. He wasn't terribly surprised to find that there was an observatory up there. He sat on the edge of a wide, open window, and looked out over the ocean. Or, well, the Mist that covered the ocean. From the distance he was from it, it did look an awful lot like clouds.

"You have something on your mind." Drake twitched a little at the voice, and turned his head to look at the person that stood at the head of the stairs. He blinked, and realized that the man had fish scales along his jawline.

"Not as much as usual, but yes." Drake turned away from Leviathan, now that he had recognized him, and looked over the Mist again. "How many people like Odette and I have been born since the Iifa Tree began filtering out souls?" He had to hope that Leviathan wouldn't tell him to figure it out on his own.

"Ten at the most, I believe. You and your fiancé are the first to have had an explanation of how it happened." Drake frowned a little at that, and Leviathan sat on the sill at the other end of the same window, his legs draped out over the outside of the window.

"Did they have problems with the Mist as well?" Leviathan didn't answer for a while. Eventually, he nodded. Drake sighed through his nose at that and turned his eyes from the Mist to the moon as it rose. "So it is because we are different."

"The Mist is made of the dregs of souls. It clings to everything, but those who have not had the lost half of their soul mesh together don't notice because there is space for extra within them. They feel the effects of the Mist stronger than most." Drake nodded at that, accepting it.

"I'd been aware of that, at least, even before I was aware I was a Whole Soul. The feel has changed on occasion. When I was in the Iifa Tree itself, it felt self-aware, and aware of us. After we came back from Terra, though, it's been different once again." Drake frowned, trying to put the feeling into words. "It feels...driven. Scared. Much more aware than I had felt outside of the Iifa Tree before." Leviathan hummed a bit at that.

"The fragments of souls in the Mist that had covered the Mist continent had had time to cease their awareness of their surroundings. The Mist that now covers the world is newer, younger." Drake paused at that, pieces clicking together in his head.

"They're the souls of those killed by war. There's a delay in the release of Mist from the Iifa Tree. So those who had died when Kuja plunged the Mist Continent into war, those that weren't sucked into the engines of the Invincible, it took time to convert them into Mist." There was a feeling of dread building in his gut.

"Yes. With time, they will coalesce into proper souls again, provided they are not used as fuel. The influx of souls coming from Earth shall help, certainly, though it will take some time before an equilibrium is found between the two." Drake sighed and pulled a knee up to his chest.

"The only way I can see the population on Earth dropping is either plague or war." Drake opened his mouth and then closed it again, taking a deep breath. "What do you think happened to my body there? Or Odette's body there?" Leviathan was silent for a while, though his expression closed off.

"...The only way that a soul can travel between worlds to mesh with its other half is if the body the soul abandoned dies." Drake felt his heart thump for a moment, and he let out a short sigh. Part of him had been expecting that. The other part was in denial still.

"I see...So there's nothing there for me anymore. Somehow that's...hard to swallow." Drake's voice trailed off, and he sighed again. "I wonder how they're all coping." His thoughts went to the mother he'd had on Earth, and his father there. Odette - Cass's family, they would be even more heartbroken, losing her only a few years after her grandparents.

His mother would blame herself, he suddenly realized. She'd gone to take a nap when he and Cass had gone to play that game. She would have found their bodies and thought that if she'd just been there she might have been able to save them. His mind followed that possibility, and he closed his eyes, rubbing at them as he felt tears well up in them.

Leviathan left him to process the information on his own. Drake stayed up at the observatory until the moon set. By then he'd managed to compose himself. He didn't want to have to explain to his friends that he was grieving the life he had had on Earth, and the people that thought him dead.

Drake slept without dreams that night, and woke up well after the others. He felt lighter than he had in ages, though he didn't move any faster. That was proved when he sparred with Sabin a little that morning while Odette went with dagger to check on the synthesist's progress.

He started to notice the anger whenever Earth crossed his thoughts. He had to stop and take deep breaths to calm himself, but he didn't push the thoughts, or the anger, away. He needed to come to terms with this before they went to fight Ozma or Kuja. At the very least, he had to get past the anger stage of things so that he could think clearly. The chances of getting completely through the grieving process so quickly was pretty much impossible. Even though he'd been in denial of it for so long.

He found himself wondering how to tell Odette after a while, but he couldn't get much privacy with anyone, let alone his fiancé, as the inn at the library was pretty much just a section of more common books with hammocks strung up between them. Eventually he sighed and told himself that he'd talk to her about it after they were done with Ozma.

Finally, the synthesist was done with the charms. Drake received a purple ribbon, which he put on his arm so that he could retire the old green ribbon. The texture was odd to him, but the pressure felt better than the old, worn-out ribbon. Odette had a ring that she placed on the ring finger of her other hand, to balance out the Rebirth Ring that she already wore. Drake didn't pay much attention to what the others did with their charms, though there were more ribbons than there were anything else.

It was too late to leave that night, so they had one last meal at the library. Quina had apparently invited everyone else that had been staying there to eat with them, and had made more than enough food for an army. Drake ate his food and went to the observatory. He felt better up there than he did among the stacks of books. The wind that swept through the space reminded him of the mountains of Caledonia, for certain, but there was something singularly wonderful about that space.

After a while, Odette came up the stairs, looking amused as soon as she saw where Drake was sitting. She moved to the other side of the window and perched there, drawing her legs up to her chest as she looked out over the Mist. She looked peaceful, with the moonlight catching on her hair.

"You've been feeling off lately." Drake twitched at her words. "Is it because you found out we can't go back?" Drake's eyebrows slowly came together in a frown. Odette didn't look at him. "Kuja told me years ago, before suppressing my memory. I've had enough time to get used to it." Drake sighed and looked out over the Mist again.

"I thought I was going to have to tell you," he finally said softly. Odette chuckled a little, spinning her newer ring around on her finger. "I think- no, I know I'd already known, I just refused to accept it. I don't think I'm going to completely come to terms with it before we fight Kuja." Odette shrugged and closed her eyes as a breeze swept through the window.

"You don't have to worry about rushing it. I'll be by your side." Drake sighed, though this time it was with a bit of relief. He lifted his hand up to run his fingertips over the ribbon around his bicep. "No matter what happens. We left Earth together, we'll stay together." Drake frowned a little.

"Right." Drake's eyes slid towards Caledonia. Towards the Iifa Tree, and the Pillar of the World. Everything kept coming back to Caledonia. His past, their quest, their future. It was where Earth was tethered to Gaia. It was where Terra had latched onto Gaia. It was his home.

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 **End Notes:** I'll try to remember to put out the next chapter in a few days. I'm actually very close to the end of the story with where I am in writing now. Still a bit annoyed at how little the last disk has on it, though. Lots of pretty videos, yes, but not a whole lot of plot.


	5. History Rhymes

**Author's Notes** : Here's the next chapter! Only a handful more chapters to go.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 5: History Rhymes

Drake scratched at the back of his head as he leaned against the guard rail on the bridge of the Invincible. The Pillar of the World was starting to come into view over the horizon. A very unpleasant thought popped into his head, reminding him of what he'd heard about mountain climbers that hiked to the peak of Mount Everest. Would they even be able to breath up there? Were they dressed properly for the sort of cold they were going to experience?

A squawk that sounded like Garuda made Drake jump, and he turned to look into the bridge again. Everyone else looked surprised. Odette had an odd look on her face and her head tilted to the side. Drake realized that he could feel a spell in the middle of the bridge.

"Sorry about not warning you." That was Yan's voice. "But we've managed to get a temporary seal on Ozma. I don't know how long it will hold, so I hope you're close to them." Drake glanced back over his shoulder.

"We're fairly sure about where they're sealed, and close enough to see it. Thank you, all of you." That was Dagger, speaking with the tone of voice she must have learned for when she put on her queenly mask. Drake turned around to look at the Pillar again. He still couldn't see the mountains of Caledonia, and the Pillar itself looked barely more than a smudge on the horizon still. Dagger was exaggerating a little about being able to see it.

The feeling of the spell faded, and Zidane sighed. Drake had to stabilize himself as the ship started to move faster than Drake had been aware it could. The mountains of Caledonia quickly rose over the horizon as the Pillar of the World grew. Drake swallowed as he finally got a sense of the scale of the spire.

While he had thought it was thin, he realized that it was probably about as wide as a city like Lindblum. Even so, it towered over the mountains of Caledonia. Looking at it, he had a feeling that one of the legends that Ed and Sabin never learned about the Pillar went something along the lines of 'it holds the sky and land apart'. There was a fairly similar legend in greek mythology. What really confused him was why he had never heard of it before.

In half an hour, they were circling the spire as they rose in elevation. Drake had to yawn several times to pop his ears as they went up, mentally running over his role and the equipment he had on him. He had a majority of the potions because he was assigned to keep everyone healthy. Eiko and Dagger were going to be summoning as much as possible, and their pockets were full of ethers. Vivi and Amarant had revealed that they could copy a spell that was directed at them to the attacker, so they were on the attacking side of things as well. Exactly how either of them knew how, they didn't tell.

Pretty much everyone else was either on item duty or attacking when they had the chance. The Chosen were all starting to feel the effects of aid from their Constellato. Drake wriggled his fingers, watching the purple light wash over them. He was starting to feel what he was pretty sure was an Einherjar in the back of his head.

"There's the top." Drake looked up, lifting a hand to block the light that would have otherwise lanced into his eyes. Sure enough, they had reached the top. There was a pile of what looked like rubble at the center of the pillar, and Drake could feel the pressure of concentrated mana that triggered the terror that he always felt in the presence of an Eidolon. "Time to go." Drake turned away from the windshield and tugged his hood up over his head. Everyone else was heading towards the door as well, except Zidane who was landing the ship.

The buzz in his head that was the Einherjar increased as he stepped out of the ship. He blinked, and it was like someone had placed sunglasses over his eyes. The light no longer hurt as badly, which made him smile briefly. He glanced around, and saw that the rest, even those who weren't Chosen, now had a thin layer of light over their bodies.

As Zidane stepped out of the ship, the pressure of magic around the pile of rubble increased until it coalesced into a gaseous ball of color. There weren't any sharp delineations that Drake remembered from the game, just a fuzzy border that shifted every second. There were times where Drake could almost see the image that the game had used, but for the most part it was indescribable.

"The seal is in place. Attack!" Drake shook his head a little at the voice in his ear. A glance at the others showed him that he wasn't the only one to hear such a voice. Zidane was rubbing at one ear with a grimace, though Drake realized that it hadn't been the voice of an Einherjar that he'd heard. It had been Yan.

"Well, you heard 'em!" Eiko bounced a little before holding her flute to her lips and starting to play a tune. Drake took a deep breath in and watched. He wasn't on combat duty, which ate at him a little, but his arrows weren't going to do much to a proto-eidolon.

Drake stood near Odette and Zidane, in case either of them needed a quick heal. The others on item duty had their own people to attend to. Sabin was watched over by Edgar, and Freya had the task of keeping Amarant conscious.

The pressure of magic increased, and Drake flinched as he saw that the spell Ozma was casting was far stronger than even Kuja's flare attack that had nearly killed them all on Terra. He felt, more than saw, the charm in his ribbon activate the Reflect spell that had been built in, and wondered briefly how the synthesist was able to put multiple spells into one item.

The spell reflected off of the spell built into the charm, as well as off of the Reflect spells that everyone else wore, and slammed into Ozma. Drake swallowed as he realized that Ozma had cast a spell that had injured it just as much as it would have injured all of them, if they hadn't been wearing enchanted charms. His eyes slid over to Vivi and Amarant, seeing both of them mouth words to a spell.

"Doomsday!" Drake blanched at the name of the spell as Vivi cast it. It was the exact same spell that Ozma had first cast. The spell bounced off of the Reflect spells again, and Drake deliberately didn't think about how many uses the spell had in it. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to get used to seeing the rubble Ozma had been sealed into picked up and thrown around. A few moments after Vivi's spell ended, Amarant cast his.

"Fenrir!" Drake blinked at Eiko's call, and had to avoid taking a step back as the wolf eidolon jumped out of a patch of cloud. The wolf turned its head to look at Drake, nodded in greeting, then turned to look at Ozma. Drake gulped at the nod, remembering what his totem animal had told him when he'd first met it.

A howl made Drake and everyone else cringe. Fenrir summoned wind stronger than Drake had ever felt with that howl, to the point where he wrapped an arm around Odette's waist to steady her. He glanced over at Vivi and saw that Steiner had caught him so he wouldn't get blown away. Eiko didn't seem to be affected by the wind, which made a bit of sense because it was her magic that flowed through Fenrir.

The gas that made up Ozma was blown away, leaving them looking even fuzzier around the edges. Drake realized with a start that the seal was what made them look spherical. The game hadn't been able to display what Ozma looked like without the seal because Ozma didn't _have_ a form without the seal. The gas that escaped the seal was gone, maybe forever. He hoped.

" _The gas that escapes will not return._ " Drake jumped a little. It sounded like Rydia. " _Yes. Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to pry because you haven't won against Ozma yet, but you really need some information from a Summoner in a fight like this._ " Drake nodded slightly, frowning a bit. He jumped as Dagger summoned Bahamut. " _Easy, Bahamut is on your side now._ " Drake bit the tip of his tongue to keep from snapping at Rydia that he knew, it just didn't tell his instincts the same thing.

Drake was only aware that Odette could tell what he was feeling when her hand gripped his tight. He blinked and looked at her in time to see her smile briefly at him before turning her attention towards Ozma again. He glanced over the rest of their group, and blinked as he saw Sabin holding his hands the way Amarant had in Ipsen's Castle.

"Razor Gale!" Drake blinked at the attack, and made a mental note to ask Sabin how many special attacks he knew, because that was not one of the ones that he'd been familiar with. It worked about as well as Fenrir's howling gale did to whisk away some of what made up Ozma. The edges of the sphere seemed to disappear as the wind faded. Drake sighed a little and jumped as a red light washed over him. He felt a few tinges of anger, but they didn't catch. It wasn't until after the fact that he realized it had been a Berserk spell.

Ozma tried to heal itself, but the gas that made up its form didn't return. Before anyone else could attack it, it unleashed a spell that looked like the one Kuja had used on them, only much bigger. Most of the spell got reflected, though Drake had to pat out a bit of fire that caught on his armor. He wasn't the only one that had to do so.

Drake had to shove potions into the hands of others as they noticed that the variant on a Flare spell had actually managed to get around the Reflect spell. He didn't have the time to wonder why Doomsday hadn't done the same thing. He could feel the Regen spell embedded in his ribbon working on his burns, but if Ozma decided to do that attack again, they would quickly get into trouble.

A flash of light announced Zidane using his Thievery skill, and Drake glanced at him before hearing Odette mutter to herself, her eyes on Ozma. Drake glanced at her before looking at Ozma. Odette didn't know any wind spells that he was aware of, but it wasn't his place to question it.

"Sky's fury and deeps' grasp, teach our foe the pain of death's clasp!" The spell rocketed towards Ozma, then into them before it took effect. Drake flinched a little as Ozma's form was sucked into a ball that crackled with electricity and set Ozma on fire as their form expanded back out to fill the confines of the seal once more.

The smoke from the fire caused by what must have been a Thundaga spell didn't dissipate through the seal, it simply joined the colored gases to make the orb darker. Drake frowned at that, but was too busy digging in his belt pouch for one of the ethers that he'd had shoved in with the potions he had to hand out to bother with asking if the smoke would do anything to the fight.

Another of that variant of Flare that Ozma used exploded over them, and Drake winced as he felt the fire hit his skin this time. He pulled out a potion and handed it to Odette, seeing that she had also gotten more of the spell get past her Reflect than last time. He gulped it down and groaned at the taste, shaking his head with a shudder.

He and Odette seemed to be the only ones that had gotten injured from that attack, for some reason. He shook his head a little at that, but glanced around. Eiko and Dagger were working on summoning again, and Amarant was digging in his belt pouch for something. Another Flare attack, this one less focused on Drake and Odette, distracted him.

"Vivi, can you copy that one?" Drake didn't bother with swallowing another potion, he wasn't as injured this time around so the Regen spell could handle it. The black mage shook his head, and Drake sighed through his nose. "Was worth an ask. Zidane, any ideas?" Zidane glanced over his shoulder at Drake before looking back at Ozma.

"Wind seemed to work best. We should concentrate on that." Drake sighed a little at that but nodded. He glanced at Eiko in time to see her summon Fenrir again. He noticed with a small amount of shock that he felt less terrified in the presence of Fenrir than he did when other eidolons were summoned.

Vivi and Odette started to throw Blizzaga spells at Ozma, after seeing that fire and lightning didn't have as much of an effect on the proto-eidolon as they had been hoping for. Ozma didn't attempt to cast the Doomsday spell again, having realized on whatever level of sentience it still had that doing so would just injure it more than it would the fighters surrounding it. Instead it concentrated on the Flare Star spell, as Drake had started to call them in his head. They did look like exploding stars to him.

As more and more of the gas was pushed out of the seal, Ozma's attacks became more and more desperate. The ball of gas faded until Drake saw it attempting gaseous form after gaseous form with each spell. He recognized some of the forms belonging to various eidolons that had never existed on Gaia. He named them in his head as he recognized them. Pandemona, Ixion, Valefor, Kjata, Jumbo Cactuar, Tonberry King, Diablos, even a chocobo of all things.

One last attack by Fenrir revealed the core of what had once been Ozma. It hung in the air for a moment before it plummeted, and Drake realized that the feeling of dread that usually accompanied the presence of an eidolon was completely gone. They all just breathed for a moment, glancing at each other as if asking if the others thought it was over as well.

"You did it." Everyone jumped at Yan's voice, and Drake sighed at the confirmation, sitting down to rest. "Ozma is no more." Dagger went over to pick up the stone that had fallen from Ozma's core. Odette sat next to Drake and leaned against him.

"That was...much easier than I expected," Drake admitted. "I thought it would be much harder to kill an eidolon, even one that was weakened." Everyone murmured agreement, and Zidane looked around. Dagger was turning the stone over in her hands.

"Well I think we're done here. Let's get back onto the ship before anyone gets sick from the height." Drake and Odette groaned in unison, and Sabin helped them both up. Drake blinked as he turned around, and frowned. Some of the edge of the Pillar was crumbling a little. The edge wasn't closer to them or really even putting the Invincible in danger of leaving them stranded, but it was still a little worrisome.

The trip back to the ground was easier, and Drake sprawled on his bunk instead of standing in the bridge. He felt like taking a nap, despite not doing nearly as much as the rest of the group, but he also felt too fidgety to sleep. Finally, he grumbled and found an out-of-the-way place to meditate.

"Drake?" Hours later, Sabin roused Drake. "Hey, you been able to get any rest?" Drake shook his head, and Sabin sat, offering him a roll. "Neither have I. Wanna try getting in touch with the Einherjar? If we can summon them, we ought to be able to get their attention somehow." Drake blinked and took the roll, thinking.

"I had the summoner that volunteered to be in my group talk to me during the Ozma fight, actually." Sabin frowned at him, and Drake smiled lopsidedly. "She admitted that she wasn't supposed to have done that, but I was glad for her help anyhow."

"Well that's interesting. Think you could get her attention again?" Drake took a bite of the roll Sabin had given him and shrugged. Sabin rolled his eyes with a small smile before flopping down on the ground. "Well, you've probably got a better shot at it than I do." Drake shrugged again and swallowed his mouthful of bread.

It wasn't hard to get back into the meditative state, though instead of just sorting through his thoughts like he'd been doing before Sabin bothered him, he tried to reach for the feeling that he associated with the Einherjar. It took him several tries before he managed to get a connection.

" _What the-?_ " That sounded like the red mage, Lyn. " _Oh, you're...Drake, right? Rydia said that you were battling Ozma._ " Drake pondered for a moment how to get his words to the Einherjar. " _Just think and we can hear you. So the battle went well, did it? Good for you. If you want to talk to anyone specific, you should concentrate on what you've experienced with them. I guess most of that would be stories for you._ " Drake agreed and thanked Lyn before opening his eyes. " _Yeah, yeah. Rydia should be able to tell you how to summon us. Or your friends should ask the summoners in their group._ "

"That was remarkably easy." Sabin grunted at that and tilted his head to lift an eyebrow at Drake. "I managed to get ahold of the red mage in my group. Pretty much you have to think about..." He tilted his head to the side a little, thinking about how to explain it. "Hm. This is harder to word than I thought it'd be. You know the feeling that you get when there's an Einherjar riding in the back of your head? You have to figure out how to feel that, and think about what you've experienced with the specific person you want to talk to." Sabin frowned, looking confused.

"What?" Drake heaved a sigh and shrugged. Sabin grumbled, looking annoyed, and flopped back on the ground. "Guess the rest of us will have to figure it out ourselves." Drake nudged Sabin until he moved enough that Drake could stretch, then folded himself in half to ease some of the tension he felt in his muscles still.

"I'm still not sure I understand it all that well, myself. It's kinda like knowing how to execute a technique but not knowing how to describe it to someone else." Sabin frowned thoughtfully at that. "Speaking of, I should probably try to get Rydia's attention so she can teach me how to summon them. If it requires the same amount of energy as summoning an eidolon, Dagger's gonna be the only one to do so."

"Nah, I'm sure it won't. Hey, you sure Odette isn't a Chosen?" Drake blinked at that and pushed himself up to stare at Sabin. "We've seen that being a Whole Soul is actually a good thing for a Chosen, and no one I've talked to knows who the Chosen of the red mages is. Nor have they ever heard of mixing spells the way she does." Drake thought for a bit and then shrugged.

"She's never offered any information about whether she is or not, and I've never thought about it. You are right, though, she does have the skills to be one." Drake went back to stretching, thinking again. He was pretty sure that Treno was where the Constellato of the red mages lived, so why had she not been made a Chosen? Had it been because she had been working under Kuja?

"Hey Drake! Sabin! Are either of you hungry?" Both of them looked up as Eiko poked her head around the edge of the bed that marked the boundary of the area most of them used for stretching. Drake looked at Sabin before shrugging.

"I could use some food, yeah." Sabin accepted a hand up from Drake and they followed Eiko to the eating area. Dagger wasn't there, but Drake had a feeling that she was asleep. He was surprised Eiko was still up, but it was possible she'd already woken up from her nap.

The food wasn't much more than soup, but Drake and Sabin both appreciated it anyhow. Drake hadn't been aware of how hungry he'd gotten. The soup was exactly what he needed. He almost nodded off over his bowl before realizing that he needed to get some sleep.

He felt like he closed his eyes on the airship and opened them on the battlefield. Except it didn't seem like much of a battlefield at the moment, there wasn't any arguing, just people standing or sitting in clumps. There were some that were sparring, but they didn't seem to be taking it very seriously.

"Hey, there you are!" Drake blinked as Rydia came bounding up to him with a grin. "Congrats on that fight! Though I guess you were more watching than anything else." She gestured for him to follow her and he did so with a small shrug to himself.

"Yeah, though I get the feeling that my role was mostly before the fight, anyhow, with finding the summoners." Rydia led him to where the rest of his group was waiting. Jay and Lyn were sparring, and Drake blinked as he saw that Lyn didn't use a sword like most red mages, but a spear with a lightning motif.

"So, any problems yet?" Drake blinked at Cecil as he greeted him, and sat with a sigh on a rock. He shook his head with a small smile, watching the two that were sparring. Lyn looked like she had at least had basic training in how dragoons fought.

"No, not yet. It's only been a few hours since we beat Ozma anyhow. I think all of us are going to need to ask a lot of questions about the summoning thing." Drake scratched his head and flicked his eyes at Rydia. "I figured out how to talk to you guys while I'm awake, though I think Lyn wasn't pleased that she was the first one I contacted." Rydia snorted at that.

"Don't let her grouchiness fool you, she's actually very nice. The summoning thing is actually rather complicated." Rydia sat down next to Drake and used the end of a summoner's staff that appeared in her hand to draw diagrams in the ground in front of them.

It was probably hours later that Drake woke with a confusing amount of information on summoning in his head. He groaned as he sat up and rubbed at his head, feeling like it was overstuffed. He went to the bridge and sat, watching the moon sink over the horizon. Not thinking about anything helped him adjust to the mass of information that Rydia had given him.

"Morning, Drake." Drake turned his head to blink at Sabin before pulling himself upright with a grunt. "You look like someone crammed an entire library in your head." Drake laughed a little at that and ran his fingers through his hair.

"To be honest, I kinda feel like it, too. Rydia is a good teacher, though, I think I should be able to manage summoning them when we need it. Though I think it may only be something I can do while in Trance, because that would be a lot to keep track of." Sabin lifted his eyebrows at that, then frowned.

"Oh, that's right, you've got next to no magic. For some reason, I keep forgetting about that." Drake shrugged and stretched his arms. He hadn't used his bow at all the day before, but his muscles did ache a little.

"I don't mind it much. This is the first situation where the lack of magic has actually been a problem." Sabin frowned at that, and Drake grinned. "With the knowledge I got from growing up with you as well as from Earth, I've been able to think myself out of most situations." Sabin laughed at that.

"Ah, I guess that's how things work for you. You've always had a quick wit, anyhow. Come on, let's go help Quina with breakfast." Drake shrugged, but followed Sabin anyhow. He got stuck with cleaning root veggies for whatever Quina was going to make for lunch.

"Alright, we're on our way back to Daguerreo." Drake waved his knife at Zidane as he walked in before slicing the rutabaga he was holding into chunks that he dropped into the bowl Quina had shoved at him to hold the cut veggies.

"I'm guessing we need to get different equipment? I doubt everyone having a Reflect spell on them constantly would help." Zidane nodded, and accepted a bowl and knife that Quina handed him. Drake grinned at that and handed his blood brother a veggie to cut.

"Yeah, that's the main reason. Dagger mentioned that she asked the synthesist to make some things while we were gone, so we shouldn't have to wait for as long." Zidane started to peel the thing that Drake had handed him. "We went past the Iifa Tree a while ago, I want to punch a hole in Kuja's spell before it gets too much bigger." Drake nodded at that.

"I've been worrying about that too. I don't like how close it is to the clans. The sooner we deal with it, the better." Drake picked up a potato and started to slice off the eyes. "Though I figure you want dibs on Kuja at the end?" Zidane grinned lightly at that.

"I don't know. Maybe. There's always the chance of something changing my mind." Drake shrugged as well and glanced up as he heard Dagger's voice at the door to the kitchen. Though it really hadn't been originally. Quina was better at putting together a kitchen out of nothing than Drake had realized.

"Is there any tea?" Drake waved at Dagger before turning his eyes back to what he was doing with his knife. "Good morning, Zidane, Drake." Zidane looked up and smiled at Dagger before Drake kicked his boot to bring his attention back to what his hands were doing.

"Good morning, Drake. Good morning, Zidane." Drake glanced up as he heard Freya, and smiled at her. She crouched, a mug of tea in her hands. "As far as I've been able to tell, everyone's recovering from the fight yesterday." Drake nodded, and dropped the chunks of potato in his bowl.

"Everyone seems to be doing pretty well. Hey Freya? What sort of Chosen normally come from Burmecia?" Freya tilted her head to the side at Drake, and he smiled a little. "I've noticed that not all Burmecians that I see among the Einherjar are dragon knights."

"That is true. Most of the ones that I know of are dragon knights, though. Any in particular you'd like to hear about?" Drake picked up a carrot and started to carefully peel off the outermost section of it. Quina had told him to peel and cut up everything in the basket he'd shoved at the archer.

"Any red mages?" Drake knew there was, but he didn't know if Freya knew about Lyn. She didn't speak with the same accent as any burmecians that Drake had met. She spoke more like people from Treno, now that he thought about it.

"Just one, that I can think of. She started off training to become a dragon knight, if I remember right. She never picked up the sword that red mages usually use, but was known for using a spear with a flamberge blade." Drake had a blank look on his face, and Freya smiled a little. "Flamberge means that it's one of those swords that looks like a moving snake." Drake nodded slightly at that.

"Okay. Yeah, that sounds like the red mage I'm thinking of." Freya chuckled and sipped at her tea. "What else was she known for? She hasn't talked to me very much." Zidane was quiet, his eyes flicking to Freya on occasion. He was interested in the story as well.

"Well, when she was young, she ran away from dragon knight training, and ended up in Treno. She became the apprentice of the then-Chosen of the red mages, a man that I've only ever heard called Redgrave. It was a time of peace then, still, but when she became Chosen, she ended up traveling with other Chosen. Some of the stories say that they found a desert kingdom before the settlement at Cleyra was founded, others say that they found a cavern full of wisdom. All of the stories have a connection between her and a human that learned the ways of the dragon knights, but none can agree how." Drake snorted a bit.

"Considering that there's a dragon knight that keeps flirting at her that's human, I'm not surprised at that." Freya choked on her tea. "She is good with that spear of hers, though. I saw her sparring with him last night."

"Well, I did hear that the group of Chosen in that time period acted like a family. Not too different from the ones in this time period, I think." Drake blinked at that and tilted his head to the side. "But she was known for a few different things besides her connection with the other Chosen. She had a particular skill with fire magic that hasn't been seen since. I don't believe she ever came back to Burmecia, either."

"What's she known as? I know what the other Einherjar call her, but the names associated to legends and their actual names are usually very different." Freya hummed a little, rubbing at her throat a little. Her voice had gotten a little hoarse from coughing.

"She has a few titles. Firechild is one of them, but I don't remember why. I want to say that another one is Storm Bringer, but that doesn't feel right. Oh! She was called Tiny Giant because of her strength. I'm sure it's exaggerated, but some of the stories involve her being able to pick up larger boulders than most monks could."

"I seem to remember a couple of stories where there was a foreigner that strong that visited Figaro," Sabin put in from where he was helping Quina. "That was I think around the same time as the king of Figaro decided to expand his hold on Caleonia. Burmecia is a land of constant rain, isn't it?" Freya turned to look up at Sabin and nodded. The monk sighed a little. "Yeah, that was probably her, then. Figaro's always been in need of water, so I guess the king thought that if he was able to conquer someplace that had more than enough rain, they'd be able to send some to Figaro as a tithe."

"I guess no one told him that she was from a different continent," Zidane said, and picked through the basket to find another veggie to peel and slice. "Though I shouldn't be surprised that Chosen can change things just by their presence." Drake tried to suppress his blush at that. He was very aware of what he had changed just by being around.

"Hey Sabin, what's your team like, anyhow?" The monk paused and blinked at the small clump of friends for a while before handing over the bowl he'd been stirring to Quina and wiping his hands off on a piece of fabric.

"Argumentative. Most of them can't stop bickering at each other, and the thief and red mage can't stop flirting for anything." Sabin shook his head with a sigh, and Drake laughed. "Though I think the red mage is the mentor of the one you've got? I've heard him mention her a few times as a student." Drake tilted his head to the side.

"No wonder she's prone to ignoring anyone that flirts at her. Anyone else of note?" Sabin hummed and dropped into a crouch next to the wall. Drake started to peel a potato with regular strokes, his eyes still on his fingers.

"Kain the Betrayer." Drake jerked at that, thankfully not slicing himself, and Sabin smiled grimly. "Yeah, he's one of the reasons why the group is prone to bickering. There's this guy who calls himself Cloud, too, the monk keeps pestering him to talk his problems out with her, but he's a dark knight, they tend to be brooding sorts anyhow."

"Wow, I thought he wouldn't be there, considering his role in the war during his time." Sabin shrugged, and waved at Edgar, who was walking in, looking half asleep. "Though I guess he was still the best dragon knight of his time."

"Yeah, he still hasn't forgiven himself for most of it. Nor has he talked about any of it besides confirming that he was that particular dragon knight." Drake tilted his head to the side in a shrug before looking back down at the potato he was peeling.

"Drake, do you know much about an archer called Guy the Wild?" Drake blinked at that and frowned, thinking. He glanced up at Dagger before back down at was his hands were doing. Dagger had a mug of tea now.

"Not a whole lot. He's not from Caledonia." Dagger sighed at that, and sat on a stool, sipping her tea and watching Quina cook. "Why do you ask?" There had to be a reason why Dagger had asked him.

"He's not very talkative, and when he does talk, I don't understand him very well. Also he really dislikes the dark knight in my group. More than once, I've seen the rest of the team have to step in to break up the fight before they killed each other." Drake frowned at that.

"Hm. I'd have to ask around. Ed?" The thief blinked, still looking half-asleep despite the cup of tea I his hand. "You need a spot to sit before you walk into something?" Ed scowled at him, annoyed. Drake smiled and shrugged.

"I'm fine. Still not sure why my team is mostly men, though." Sabin and Drake both failed miserably to hide their laughter. Ed's expression darkened even more. Drake had to set down his knife so he wouldn't hurt anyone with how hard he was laughing.

"Wow, I guess even the Einherjar have heard about your womanizing ways," Sabin joked. Ed glowered, looking annoyed, and Drake finally caught his breath, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Sabin had a wide grin on his face, entirely unconcerned about his older brother's anger.

"Female warriors don't put up with nonsense, you ought to know that by now, Ed." Drake's comment had all the anger flowing out of Edgar. He sat with a grunt that nearly spilled his tea. "To be honest, the more amusing part was your reaction to it." Ed grumbled at that, looking tired.

"Mornings like this, I feel old." That got more laughter. Edgar was younger than Steiner by a fair amount, and Steiner was the only one they would let say something like that without comment. "I don't think I'm the only reason that there are only a few girls on my team, though. There's a couple of other guys that flirt with girls as much as possible." Drake lifted his eyebrows at that.

"What're their names?" Drake handed the last veggie in the basked to Zidane and cleaned off his blade and dried it. When he looked back up, Edgar was staring at him, and Drake lifted his eyebrow. "You do realize that the stories Earth has about Gaia are not all of the same time period, right? Nor are they all terribly accurate, but that's another thing entirely." Edgar sighed and rolled his eyes.

"One of them's actually named Edward, but he goes by Edge instead. He's a thief as well, one of the ones that I've found easy to talk to. The other is an archer named Irvine." Drake blinked for a moment and then smiled.

"Ah. Yeah, I see what you mean, then. Those two have appeared in a few stories on Earth, though I don't know how accurate they are. Their flirtatiousness certainly made an appearance, though." Drake didn't want to have to explain all of the different games, or the fact that the games were all different worlds, especially if people from those other games were appearing in various ways in Gaia.

"Mmph. Come on, let's go walk around the ship, I need to stretch." Drake shrugged and heaved himself up before offering Edgar a hand. Zidane grimaced at him before finishing his part of the veggies and handing the bowl over to Quina.

By the time they were done with their walk, breakfast was done being cooked, and the island that housed Dagurreo was starting to appear on the horizon. Drake was feeling more awake now, and less like his head was filled to the limit.

"Is there enough time for a spar?" Amarant spoke up as he was passing the pot of oatmeal over to Freya. Drake blinked as he put the lid back on the honey pot and licked a dab of it from his thumb. "That fight with Ozma wasn't nearly as physical as I'd hoped for." Drake glanced at Sabin before shrugging.

"I think we could manage a spar, if just to stretch out a little. Anyone else up for it?" Edgar and Zidane looked at each other before shrugged. Edgar no longer looked stiff and mostly asleep. Zidane hadn't gotten a whole lot of action in the last fight, either, seeing as he was mostly a physical fighter.

"I wouldn't mind teaching a few techniques," Edgar offered, and Zidane's face lit up. Drake blinked a little at that, wondering when Zidane had gotten used to the face that Edgar was far and away a better technical warrior.

Drake ended up getting some of his footwork corrected by Freya as he went through some of the staff drills he'd learned as a child, while Amarant and Sabin sparred in the larger section of the meditation area, and Edgar and Zidane worked between the bunk beds. The skills of a thief required less space to work in than most any other physical style.

"Ship's arrived!" Odette must have learned how the PA system worked, because they all jumped at the announcement and looked around. Drake was the one that spotted what looked like a mesh circle built into the ceiling.

They were all rather sweaty, but warmed up for the trip to the cavern. There were several monsters that tried to attack them this time, including Mistodons, the creatures that Kuja had created to attack them back at the Iifa tree when they had first confronted him there. After the fight with Ozma, nothing really seemed to be much of a challenge for them as a team.

The scholars greeted them once they entered, and Drake imagined that they weren't used to the same group of people coming and going so often. More people were greeting them than had last time. Drake blinked a few times, but went to get a bath. The Mistodons may have been above the layer of the Mist, but they still seemed to exude it.

Once he was clean again, he went looking for books on legends of Chosen. There wasn't anything for him to focus on researching this time, but he was still curious about the Einherjar he'd had assigned to him. The good thing about Dagurreo was that books from all over Gaia were copied and sent there.

He read through several books before he found one with the information he was looking for. He settled into a hammock next to a lamp and started it swinging with a gentle kick of his leg as he carefully set the book on his abdomen. It looked like it was a new copy, the parchment wasn't yet yellowed with age, but he still didn't want to break any of the pages.

Tony Redgrave, as it turned out, was the name of the Red Mage that had taken the young orphaned Burmecian that became known as the Tiny Giant. He'd found her meandering Treno, of all places, and tried to teach her how to use a sword.

He was the one that had discovered that she had a better than average resistance to fire, to the point where she barely even got scorched fur from it. He also was the one to find out that she was terrified of lightning storms, which explained why Freya had remembered a connection to storms with her.

What interested Drake the most, though, was the description of Redgrave. He was an albino human whose white mage mother had managed to help him avoid losing the use of his eyes. He wielded a sword about as long as some people were tall. There was even a portrait of him that made Drake do a double-take, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where he'd seen him.

Shortly after Redgrave stepped down as Chosen, Lyn had been selected as his replacement. She had met another Chosen, Tess, through her teacher. Redgrave, it seemed, was known for being involved with multiple women at once, and one of them had been the Chosen of the Dancers. Lyn and Tess had soon become sisters in all but birth.

Tess had introduced Lyn to the Chosen that most claimed was her love, a human adopted by Burmecians named Jay. Drake had to skip a few pages as the scholar who had written the book went into theories about why the two of them had to have been together, focusing on the symmetry of their childhoods and the way the skills they were known for, strength and speed, worked together. To Drake, it felt a little like shipping, but real people instead of fictional ones.

The next one to be introduced to their group was a Dark Knight named Zeke, whom Drake recognized from his role in teaching Cecil. He was also close to Lyn. There were many mentions of training with Lyn and Jay, and his skills seemed to lean close enough to the skills of thieves that Drake found himself wondering who the Chosen of the thieves was in their time.

Interestingly, Redgrave was the one that introduced them to the last of the group that seemed concise. A chemist with the odd name of Key, that was also one of his paramours. There was no mention of drama between her and Tess, which made Drake think that they had both known of the other long before being properly introduced.

Violet, the scholar that was in Drake's team, was the only other Chosen mentioned in the book, and she was the one who had interviewed the others to get the primary sources the author of the book Drake was currently reading used. Drake took note of her name and went looking through the shelves for books that she had written.

Drake glanced down one of the aisles and smiled as he saw Odette with a small stack of books in one arm, looking intently at a shelf. He had a feeling that she was looking for stories on the Einherjar like he was. Knowing her, she was probably looking for stories about red mages.

It took a lot of looking around and asking for help before he found the books he was looking for. Most of them weren't terribly interesting to him, though he did eventually find what looked like a journal of her trip with the other Chosen. Or rather, a copy of it.

Drake settled down on a cushion to start reading it, settling the book in his lap with a lamp tilted just right to cast enough light to read. He read slowly, muttering to himself over the handwriting of the person who had copied this journal. It took a fair amount of decoding.

Hours later, Drake gave up trying to glean any information from the journal and closed it with a groan, rubbing at his eyes. Squinting at the tiny text had given him a headache, though he had given it a game try.

He set the journal back in the book returning area and went looking for food and water, rubbing at his temples. After some bread, a lot of water, and a nap in a dark corner, he was feeling much better. He hadn't realized how easy it was for him to slip back into some of the old habits he'd had when he was back on Earth.

He climbed up to the observatory at the top of the library, and blinked as he found Amarant up there, sitting in one of the windows. He turned his head a little to acknowledge Drake before looking out over the landscape again.

"How do you know the story of what's going to happen is accurate?" Drake blinked at Amarant for his question. He groaned a little as he sat in one of the other windows. He should have guessed that Amarat would have heard that.

"It isn't entirely. The story didn't mention a lot. But it is a lot more accurate than most of them. The story about Edgar and Sabin has them as twins. Caledonia has never been mentioned in any of the stories. There's a barber in Lindblum named Squall that was said to be a warrior, but he's actually a very gentle man. Compared to all that inaccuracy, the story I've been going off of is startlingly clear. But there isn't much left to it." Amarant shifted a little and Drake watched his shadow on the other wall.

"So what you can tell is that the one story has gotten more of the facts right." Drake hummed an affirmative, and Amarant grunted. "Makes sense. You're still prone to keeping secrets." Drake chuckled a little and shrugged.

"Bad habit. I'll have to work hard to break it. Who knows, maybe I'll dictate the stories I remember to someone someday. I'm sure there's already people trying to write a story about our travels." Amarant snorted at that.

"I doubt that. You'd back out at the last minute for fear of being thought you were crazy." Drake blinked and tilted his head to the side. "So this story...Does it have a name?" Drake's mind froze at that. In his experience, all stories had names of a sort, but how was he supposed to tell Amarant that it was part of a series of disjointed stories?

"Not really, no." Amarant waited to see if he would continue before scoffing. Drake smiled weakly, though he knew Amarant couldn't see it. He trusted the monk more than he let on, really. He just didn't have the words to explain everything, that was all.

"You just don't want to tell it. What, is it obscene?" That startled a laugh out of Drake. It took him a while to get his laughter under control. Having a couple of laughs catch in his throat to the point where he coughed was enough to get him to regain his composure.

"No, it's just...It would take a lot of explaining, and I don't have the patience for it right now." Amarant scoffed at that, and Drake yawned. "At some point, some of the people writing the stories down got lazy with the names and started to assign them numbers."

"That is..." Amarant sounded boggled. He made a few sounds like he was trying to figure out what to say, but couldn't manage it. Drake just smiled wryly.

"Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous sometimes. The numbered ones aren't even more accurate than the ones that were actually given titles, either." Amarant made a noise that Drake recognized as 'annoyed', and the archer grinned.

"That's a bit more than just being lazy. Why didn't anyone else give the stories a better name?" Drake shrugged and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"Because they were the only ones that published the stories? I think they were more concerned with getting the stories out than about giving them names. Heck if I know why, though." He had a feeling he knew why, and it was because the technology had just gotten to the point where the most information could be given to those who paid attention, like he had.

"Pah. I doubt I'll ever figure out why scholars do things the way they do," Amarant growled. "Let's go down and see if Zidane has managed to destroy the enchanted things yet." Drake snorted at Amarant's comment and waved a hand.

"I'll stay up here, thanks. I could use the fresh air." Amarant shrugged at that and went down to the main part of the library, leaving Drake alone in the observatory. Drake took a deep breath as a breeze swept through the open windows, and a small smile crept over his face.

Even if things in Memoria didn't go as they were supposed to, he had at least made a difference in Gaia. Amarant wasn't as much of a loner as he had once been. Cleyra still existed. Treno was on its way to becoming a nicer place, with the example he had set. If he died in Memoria, at least he would have done that much. His name would be remembered.

Not that he was planning on dying in Memoria. He wasn't planning on dying anywhere but in his home, in his own bed, as an old man. Preferably with Odette at his side, surrounded by their children. And even once he was done, he would become an Einherjar, and probably be well known among them, because he was a Whole Soul.

All in all, his life was going to be very different from what it would have been on Earth. He was pretty sure that he didn't mind that difference in the least. He did, however, understand why the phrase 'may you live in interesting times' was considered a curse.

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 **End notes:** Yes, I did throw some more OCs in. A fair amount of them are cameos of characters my friends and I RP as. And if ayone wants to know who has who on their team, I might put in the lists on the next chapter.


	6. Into Myth

**Author's Notes:** This has been done for a while, but I'm kind of procrastinating on the final battle, so I figured I ought to put this up while trying to put my thoughts together. I'm aware that halfway through a chapter is probably a bad place to procrastinate, but eh.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 6: Into Myth

"Alright, everyone got all their things?" Drake patted his armor at Zidane's question, then checked that the charm added to his ribbon to suppress the Reflect spell built into it was in place and not in danger of chewing its way through the fabric. He double-checked his arrows and his bow before nodding.

Their trunks and those items they didn't want to lose were in a storage room in Daguerreo after Drake mentioned that he was pretty sure that the ship they took to fight Kuja wasn't going to make it back out with them, should they succeed in their task. The furniture had been removed as well, and was gifted to the scholars so they would have an actual place to sleep instead of hammocks wherever one could be strung up.

The Invincible felt empty, now that all the homey touches that had been added to it had been removed. The difference seemed to be making an impression on the others as well, because they all looked tense. Or perhaps it was the blue light. Drake tugged his hood up to block as much of the blue light as possible from hitting his eyes. He couldn't afford to have a migraine.

"Everyone's set." That was Dagger, grim and determined with a gold circlet on her brows. The stone that Ozma had dropped had been wrapped in wire and now hung as a pendant on her chest. Drake was pretty sure it was a pumice stone, but he had no idea whether it worked like the gemstones did or not. Dagger would know better than him, at any rate.

"Right. Let's go. To the Iifa Tree!" The hum of the Invincible's engines increased, and the familiar vertigo of lifting in the air hit Drake. He grabbed hold of the railing next to him to keep from staggering. Everyone else did the same.

Without the load of extra things that they had been carting around in the Invincible, the ship was able to make it up to speeds that they had never seen out of it before. Half an hour, and they were within sight of the Iifa Tree. More than one person had sat down to wait.

Even from the distance they were at, Drake could feel the pressure of the mana Kuja was bringing to bear to open the gate to Memoria. He blinked and then frowned at that thought. Memoria was a place, certainly, that was what had been suggested by the game, but he had thought before finding himself in Gaia that Kuja had made the place. It did make more sense that he had simply opened the gate to it, though.

"Here come the dragons." Odette's voice was tight with worry. Drake turned and frowned. The dragons were lifting up from their nests in the canopy of the Iifa Tree like a cloud of starlings. He found himself scanning for the airships he knew were supposed to be there. He had told Beatrix, so she should have spread the news of what was going to happen.

"Woah!" Zidane flinched as a dragon blew fire at the windshield. There was a ripple of some sort of magic built into the ship taking effect and deflecting the flames, but Drake frowned as there was too much fire for it to all have come from a single dragon. "What?! Where did they come from?!" Drake turned and looked, then grinned. There were the airships, rising up from the sea of Mist. Their cannons cut deep swathes through the murmuration of dragons. It took him a moment to realize that these were Lindblum's airship navy.

"Drake?" Drake glanced at Dagger and smiled sheepishly. He was probably the only one that wasn't surprised by their appearance. She sighed and shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. "I should be angry, but I'm not." She turned and looked over the airspace before blinking. "They're clearing a path for us through the dragons."

"The Invincible doesn't have a way to defend itself. I knew Kuja would take advantage of that," Drake explained, leaning forwards to rest his hands against the railing around the front of the bridge. "I'm glad my gamble in telling Beatrix paid off."

"Well, it'll make it easier to lose those dragons!" Zidane pushed the Invincible faster, but the dragon were still swarming around them. Some of them bounced off of the Invincible's hull as the Invincible pushed past them. Drake almost missed the Red Rose as it blocked the dragons that were trying to catch up to the Invincible.

"The Red Rose? Beatrix?!" Steiner sounded surprised. Drake turned away from that conversation with a smile. Steiner sounded like he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified that Beatrix was there.

"Quite a woman you fell in love with!" Zidane sounded too cheerful to Zidane's ears, at least until he remembered that Zidane and Steiner had barely managed to tolerate each other for most of their adventure.

"Pah! You're one to talk!" The retort came so smoothly that Drake had to imagine Steiner hadn't thought about what he was saying before it was out of his mouth. Dagger whirled around at that, and Drake grinned.

"Wait a minute, Steiner! What did you mean by that?!" The ship swayed under them; Zidane was doing his best to lose the dragons without making any of them lose their footing. Dagger stumbled, and Drake reached out to steady her, his other hand on the railing.

"No time for arguing now!" Zidane swerved around the last of the dragons and into the glowing bubble that marked the edges of the spell Kuja had been working on. "Hang on tight!" Drake had to close his eyes and turn his head away as the nose of the Invincible broke through the bubble-like membrane of the spell and triggered a bright flash of light.

There was the sound of a spell shattering, the whoosh of air suddenly rushing into the bridge, and then Drake was knocked back, breaking his hold on Dagger. He rolled to his feet and opened his eyes, shaking his head a little at the disorientation.

A dragon stood in the center of the bridge, growling and spreading its wings as much as it could manage. Drake pulled his bow out of his pouch and backed up, letting Sabin step in front of him. He could see the others scrambling to get in position for a fight as well.

Drake was glad that he'd spent so long stringing his bow in a hurry, because he barely had to even think about getting a bowstring out and stringing his bow, or about getting a quiver out and hooking it on his belt. He just had to focus on not getting knocked around by the big angry dragon in his face. Thankfully, with several Chosen present, it seemed a little confused as to who was the biggest threat to it. That gave them all a little bit more time to get themselves in order.

"Drake, Edgar, Sabin! Keep it faced towards you!" Zidane's order got an automatic reaction from all three Caledonian natives. Drake snapped off an arrow at the dragon's head, skimming across its snout. With the fight taking place in such a small space, he couldn't really use his bow to the best extent. In this situation, he really was better at acting as a distraction. "Odette, Vivi, Freya! Hit it as hard as you can!"

Drake realized it was getting hard and harder to keep the dragon's attention on him and his blood brothers as the fight started to get going. Zidane and Amarant were scrambling over the part of it that was firmly in the bridge, and Odette and Vivi were hitting it with spell after spell. Freya and Steiner were guarding them and taking damage for them when the distraction team failed to keep its attention long enough.

Finally, the dragon slipped backwards out of the bridge, bouncing off of the hull and falling away into oblivion. Drake sighed, and looked over at Odette in time to see her pick up one of the fallen pinion feathers from the dragon and look at it thoughtfully.

A warping sound made Drake look out the newly restored windshield, and he blinked before stepping towards the broken railing. Before the ship was a tower that was building and crumbling at the same time. There parts of the building seemed to flow upwards, and the only thing that seemed solid was a road that stretched out from the tower towards them. Seeing it, Zidane directed the Invincible towards it.

"I don't like our chances of landing on that tower," Zidane explained as he settled the ship down gingerly. "As far as we know, anything that goes near it will start experiencing the same thing." Drake turned away from the windshield and blinked as the others looked at him. "Well?" Drake shrugged.

"The stories disagree about this area about everything except for the events that happen, and even those were never described in much detail." Zidane sighed at that and started for the portal down. Drake shrugged apologetically, and started for the door as well. Everyone else took that as the signal to get moving as well.

Drake was one of the last ones off, and he paused to look around the ship. Despite how the ship still made his nerves scream, it had served them well. Gaia wasn't ready to have the technology that the ship offered, though, and he was more than sure that the technology to use a soul for fuel was technology that no world needed to know of.

By the time Drake was down on the road with the others, Odette was braiding the feather she had picked up from the Nova Dragon into her braid, letting it trail along behind her. She smiled at him as he moved to stand next to her, and leaned towards him a little.

Drake looked down from the road, and realized that not only were they at the very crumbling edge of a road that looked like it had been plucked from the bridges leading to Lindblum Grand Castle, the buildings below the tower seemed to shift, flowing towards the castle to merge with it. More buildings arrived from over the horizon. There were no trees, nothing green could be seen.

"What is this place?" Zidane jumped just after he'd spoken and looked around almost frantically. Everyone looked at him, and Drake tilted his head to the side. Vivi asked him what was wrong, asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "I just heard someone call my name. But it wasn't one of you guys." Drake saw Freya glance at him and made a tiny shrugging gesture. He knew what Zidane heard, but he hadn't heard a thing.

"Maybe you're just hearing things." Zidane shook his head a little at that, frowning. Then he jumped again and looked around. "Isn't that a sign of-" She got cut off as Drake made a placating gesture at her, looking expectantly at Zidane as he listened intently.

"Garland?!" That got everyone jumping in surprise. Drake nodded to Freya as she glanced at him, confirming that this was what he had expected. Zidane frowned and shook his head, looking frustrated, and Drake had to guess that he'd just been informed that Garland was speaking solely to him. "Garland, what is this place?" Drake blinked as Zidane turned and looked at Drake, a grimace on his face. "He just told me to ask you, Drake." Drake snorted and shook his head.

"Well, that just figures. I only know this place as Memoria. I think it's someplace that is...not like any other. From what little I've been able to glean, it's a place to travel through time as well as space." Drake shrugged helplessly, grimacing. "That's literally all I can remember about it." Zidane grimaced, then tilted his head to the side.

"Wow, Garland, way to be rude. He says that Memoria is made up of our memories." Drake blinked and looked down at the road below them. So it probably wasn't just like the bridge in Lindblum, it _was_ the bridge in Lindblum, plucked from someone's memories and placed there. "Apparently we'll 'witness the entire truth' here, whatever that means." Drake crossed his arms and glanced at Odette. She was chewing on her lower lip.

"Well, just standing here seems like a really bad idea," Odette said finally. A brick toppled from the path as if to punctuate her comment. Drake subtly took a step away from the edge. He didn't want to find out what would happen if someone fell from that height. "There's only one way to go right now, anyhow."

"Right. Let's get away from the impending problem." Dagger started to walk along the road. The rest of them started to walk as well. Drake fell in step alongside Zidane towards the rear of the group, looking anywhere but the tower. Every once in a while, he saw part of it break off at the top and bounce off the side, breaking spires that looked a little too similar to buildings he'd seen on Earth as it went.

It felt like it barely took any time at all for them to make it to the tower. Drake set the end of his bow on the ground to balance himself as he leaned back to look up at the structure that seemed to disappear into the distance now. It had to be about as wide around as all of Lindblum, and seemed to go on forever. The entrance that the road lead to stayed solid, thankfully, but several spikes reminiscent of gothic architecture were going up along the sides of the door.

They all avoided the spikes as they filed through the massive door. Interestingly enough, the inside felt more solid than the outside. The floorplan didn't look to be too practical, and after a moment, Drake swore, watching a staircase overhead detach from one landing and swing to connect to another one.

"Wh-what on earth?" Drake wasn't the only one to have noticed the moving staircase. "You weren't kidding about this place being hard to wrap the mind around," Edgar said, frowning upwards. "How did that not collapse on us? I didn't even hear any machinery working."

"I'm pretty sure that physics has ceased to care," Odette said softly. She had barely glanced up at the moving staircase, her eyes scanning the hall they had walked into. "Ah! Look!" Drake looked where she was pointing, and swore, his eyes widening. A giant decked in plate armor with a sword the size of a tree was stomping down the hall towards them.

"Vivi, Odette, that one's on you." Zidane didn't speak loudly, but the two mages nodded. Drake watched as Vivi started to whisper the words to what he thought was a Firaga spell, and Odette traced sparkling runes on the air in front of her.

Lightning cracked the air, followed closely by the roar of a large fireball. The Thundaga spell made the giant stagger, but it barely seemed to notice the fireball. Drake tapped his fingers on his bow before looking at Edgar.

"D'you think you could try the..." Drake trailed off, gesturing helplessly with his free hand. Edgar seemed to understand him anyway and looked thoughtful. He nodded slowly, and settled himself into a stance where he couldn't easily be knocked over and closed his eyes to take a deep breath.

Vivi and Odette both released more Thundaga spells, knocking the Iron Giant to its knees but not killing it. Everyone jerked as light suddenly flared next to Edgar. A woman with black hair pulled back severely stepped forwards, a couple of white feathers embedded in her bun with the ornamented hairpins. Drake's eyes dropped down to the woman's bust for a moment before he snapped his eyes back to her face.

He knew this red mage, though he knew her better as a black mage, and he knew she did not tolerate idiots easily. He also was more familiar with seeing Lulu in a black dress that was primarily composed of belts, not what was possibly a barely modified version of the Einherjar red mage uniform.

Lulu unleashed a barrage of Thundaga spells before scoffing and disappearing in a sparkle of red light. Edgar groaned a little and rubbed at his face with a grimace. The Iron Giant feel to the ground with a crash, and everyone stared at him.

"What was that?" Zidane sounded like he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to his question, and cast a couple of glances at Dagger. Drake lifted an eyebrow at that, and noticed that Zidane looked like he was blushing a little.

"That was Edgar summoning one of the Einherjar that agreed to help him. Specifically, the red mage." Drake frowned a little at Edgar and nudged him with one hand. "Hey, you need a potion or an ether?" Edgar held up two fingers and Drake nodded, pulling one out of his belt pouch. "Here."

"Thanks." Edgar gulped the ether down and shuddered at the taste. "Ngh. Okay, so, mental note. Do not summon mages of any sort unless in Trance. The energy for the magic comes from me." Drake winced a little at that. Sabin did as well.

"So that was one of the three women in your team, eh? Her personality must be ice cold if she was able to keep you from flirting," Sabin joked, offering his brother a small smile. Edgar gave him a flat look, and Drake chuckled.

"Drake was that...?" Drake looked at Odette, who was looking rather odd. He nodded, and she frowned a little. "But..." Drake tapped the side of his nose, and Odette pouted. She probably wanted to find out why a woman from Final Fantasy X was in the land of Final Fantasy IX as soon as possible.

They took a few steps, and Drake paused mid-step. He stepped over to the side of the hall and tilted his head to the side and reached into a shadowed niche. Zidane called his name, getting everyone's attention. The thing that Drake had felt rather than saw was stuck in its niche, so it took him a couple of tugs to get it free.

"Is that..." Sabin trailed off, tilting his head to the side with a distant look on his face. Finally, he grinned with a bemused smile on his face. "Well. Freya, you're in luck. You get the chance to use the lance used by Kain the Betrayer." Everyone stared at Sabin for a moment, and Drake looked over the weapon he held before offering it to Freya. She took it gingerly, running her hands over the shaft.

"It doesn't look like it's suffered any battle damage," she said finally, a frown in her voice. "You're sure it was his?" Sabin nodded at that, crossing his arms. Freya took a couple of steps away before swinging the lance, and sighed slightly. "It's wonderfully balanced."

"This place is made of memories. It makes a certain amount of sense that there would be weapons wielded in legend here." Drake looked at the weapon and shrugged again. "It also stands to reason that those weapons would still be in excellent shape." Zidane looked thoughtful at that.

"I...suppose so." Zidane sighs and started to walk forwards again. "We don't have the time to rest here, though. We need to keep going." Drake nodded to Zidane's announcement, and started to walk forwards as well. Freya swapped out her spear, handing the old one to Drake for him to stow in his belt pouch.

They passed through what looked like the pendulum part of a giant clock, and Drake paused on the spiraling stairs to watch the pendulum. He glanced down and blinked as he saw that with each pass of the pendulum, the floor far below changed.

Next came a serpentine hall lined with stained glass windows. Unlike the ones in Figaro palace, these portrayed legends. A paladin in horned armor, light emanating from the tip of his spear stood in one window. Drake realized he was the Warrior of Light, the hero from the very first Final Fantasy game. The second window was a white-haired man in a cloak with an assortment of various weapons. Written on the sill was the name 'Firion of the Wild Rose'.

The next window bore the appearance of a young boy, also with silver hair, a purple helm with an onion-like plume of feathers, and purple bloomers and cloak. He bore a sword in one hand and had a spell under his other, outstretched hand. The plaque under his window read 'Luneth the Onion Knight'.

Cecil stood in the next window, as a paladin with a dark background. The rest of the group slowed, noticing that he was absorbed in looking over the windows, and started to pay attention to them as well. Zidane walked back to look over them as well.

"Who are they?" Drake had moved on to the next window, which depicted Bartz, a brownhaired young man with a chocobo next to him. "Luneth isn't a warrior, he's a shoemaker." Zidane was frowning at that window, looking confused.

"They are the heroes of the stories told in Earth. The people that told them were about to lose everything they owned when they told the first one, so they called it Final Fantasy. It saved them from bankruptcy, so they were able to continue. The next one was called Final Fantasy Two, for the sake of simplicity, but it didn't speak of quite the same world." Drake frowned a little as he heard himself. He stepped to the next window. "There hadn't been much of a plot to speak of in the first one, but there was in the second.

"Eventually, several things seemed to emerge as a pattern. Certain creatures, both friendly and not, and different classes of warriors." Drake stared up at Terra, the green-haired woman. She was midway between her human form and her Eidolon form, power radiating from her. "Each installment changed things. The kingdoms, the maps, the very legends of the lands themselves. Sometimes the technology was advanced. Other times, it was not." Next was Cloud, the Buster sword on his back as he held out his hands to cast a spell. "For the longest time, the stories were not well known except for in the nation they were written in." Now Odette stepped forwards.

"But things changed with the seventh installment. It became well known all across the world, and ushered in an era of prosperity for them." Drake nodded, and looked at the caption. Where Bartz had been 'Bartz the Adventurer', and Terra had been 'Terra the Eidolon', Cloud's simply read 'Cloud Strife'. Just his name, not a title.

"They had the money to change how they portrayed their stories. The next installment, the eighth one, was...more realistic. Gone was the black and white of the earlier stories. The characters were able to linger in the grey between good and bad." Squall Leonhart glared over Drake's head, his gunblade in his hand. "People loved it. The people writing the stories continued." Now Drake stepped to the ninth window and looked up. "In the ninth installment, they told the story of a young man that had been raised to be a thief, in a land he was not born to." Behind him, he heard people gasp as they noticed who was in the widow.

"That's... That's me." Zidane sounded shaken." Drake nodded. "Wait, but I'm not...I'm not a Chosen, or anything important, I'm just..." Drake smiled a little at Zidane, turning to look at him.

"You are important. You aren't a Chosen, it's true, but you're a son of Terra, who is righting the wrongs committed by the people you were born to. None of this would have happened if not for you." Zidane looked blindsided. Drake turned and looked up at the window. Unlike the rest, this figure faced away from the people that looked at it, facing towards a strange shape from which light radiated. Drake knew it was the Crystal at the heart of Memoria. "Kuja would have won long ago if not for your existence, for the path you walked."

"But they didn't stop at nine." Drake turned to look at Odette. She was looking up at the tenth window, and the blonde man that was depicted in it. He bore a curious sword that looked like it was made of water. "Why?"

"I don't know." Drake walked to the eleventh window and stared at it. Shards of glass were starting to assemble themselves into its frame. "I don't think I ever will. We can't go back to Earth. We'll never know the other stories." Silence reigned for a moment.

"That's why you didn't want to tell me the name of the story." Amarant's voice broke the silence, and Drake nodded. "Because it has such a long story." Drake nodded again. He heard Freya ask Amarant a soft question, and Amarant murmured an answer.

"It is fitting, I guess, that I tell the truth about it here. Earth has a higher level of technology than Gaia does. These stories weren't told in books. They...the closest that Gaia has to it is a play, but shown on screens similar to the ones in the Invincible. They are interactive, so the people watching them can explore it with some amount of freedom. But there is a certain amount of inaccuracy. The exploration is never total." Drake turned and looked at the others. "Before Odette and I left Earth, I was about to show her the ninth one."

"The last thing that I can remember of Earth is electricity and pain. It came from the device that read the information of the stories, correct?" Odette looked to Drake, and he nodded. He took a deep breath, and forced himself to relax.

"According to Leviathan, our bodies on Earth died then. It was necessary to pull our souls to Gaia." He looked down and took a deep breath in, still feeling the ache in his chest when he thought of his family back on earth.

"And that's why you can't go back." Drake nodded, and started to walk again, noting that each of the windows had shards of glass starting to build up in them. The ones farther along didn't, but there were flecks of metal gathering to create the frames the windows would eventually sit in.

"I don't think our futures were very bright there, anyhow." Odette sounded firmer than Drake felt. When people looked to her, she had one of her swords out, her eyes focused on something. "Our fortunes weren't as good there as they have been here on Gaia." Drake turned to see what Odette had spotted and reached for his bow.

"What is that?" Eiko squeaked at the creature that roared at them from the head of the stairs. Drake idly flipped an arrow over his fingers, his eyes flicking between the three heads on the creature.

"It's called a Chimera. I've heard of them in stories from Earth. 'The head of a goat arising from the back of a lion, with a snake as its tail'... It's a curious creature, to be sure. Earth has used the word to mean any creature composed of disparate parts of multiple creatures, but this one here is the one all the rest were named after." Drake nocked the arrow he held on his bow and drew back the string to the corner of his mouth. He barely had to aim before releasing, and the head of the snake moved into the path of his arrow.

"At least it's not a sphinx." Odette groaned at that, and Drake grinned, mostly at the confused sounds the others were making as they prepared for the fight. "We'll have to tell you that story once we're out of Memoria. It's a long one." He couldn't remember the last time he felt so light. There were no secrets anymore, not even about how he had known about the events that had taken place and were going to take place.

"I'll hold you to it." Zidane spun his double-ended sword to his side as he stepped next to Drake. "Now that you've told us the rest of your secrets, you ought to be more talkative about stuff, yeah?" Drake shrugged and stepped aside to let Sabin and Edgar by.

"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to remember everything with any degree of certainty. Ancient legends from Earth weren't nearly as interesting to me as modern ones." With the snake head out of the way, it was safer for the others to get in close. No one wanted to risk getting poisoned.

The chimera didn't last long, between Freya, Amarant, and Sabin. Drake scratched the back of his head as he walked up to the corpse, lifting his eyebrows at how quickly the beast had been taken care of. If they had been in the game, he might have said they were overleveled. He glanced around in case there was another monster ready to attack him, and blinked.

"Hey Zidane, I think there's a thing over there." Zidane blinked at Drake and then looked in the direction Drake was pointing. He tilted his head to the side and walked over to one of the pillars. He grabbed hold of what looked like part of it, and gave it a few hard tugs before it came free from the pillar. He nearly fell over, and stared at the weapon.

"Well, it's pretty, at least." Zidane spun the double-sided weapon around his hands before separating them and giving them a few more swings. "Great balance. Did this ever show up in that story, Drake?" The archer nodded and looped his bow over his head and shoulder.

"Yeah. It was called The Tower." Zidane froze, and Drake tilted his head to the side. "It was described as being the weapon that defined a great thief." Odette giggled a bit, and Drake shrugged. "I seem to remember it being the name of a card from tarot cards? But I don't know much about those." Zidane frowned at the weapon before looking at Edgar.

"Keep it, Zidane. I prefer blades with a different balance than those have got." Zidane frowned, but shrugged and moved the blades he'd been wearing. The group waited for him to figure out a way to keep his new weapon on him without injuring himself.

The next area looked like one of the elevated roads from Treno, though the supports that kept those stable back in Treno were simply floating in air. After seeing that, Drake deliberately didn't look down, even as a source-less wind pushed at him, rotating a wind vane to their right.

There was a scent of brimstone that made Drake halt behind the rest of their group and look around. Freya stopped shortly after, sniffing the air with a troubled look on her face. She turned to look at Drake as the rest of the group realized that he had stopped.

A snake-like creature of blue and red dropped in front of the group, and Drake swore as he lurched forwards, tugging his bow over his head with one hand as he reached for his quiver with the other. Sabin and Edgar pulled Dagger and Eiko out of danger as Odette hastily cast protective spells, just in time to halt six swords that would have sliced into her.

Amarant lunged for the revived Fire Guardian as the rest of the group stumbled away from the towering foe. Drake paused and pulled his bowstring back. His arrow was sliced in two by one of the swords, and he grimaced.

"I am one of the Chaos guardians. Kneel before my power!" Freya moved to right next to Drake and glanced at him. He returned the glance, his jaw set. Already their friends were all arranging themselves for the battle. Odette gave him a worried look as she reached the rear line, where he and Freya were.

Steiner parried one of the snake woman's swords as Dagger called up a Protect spell around him to fend off any other strikes aimed at him. Sabin managed to scoot around their foe and grabbed hold of her tail to keep her from advancing on the rest of their group. Zidane and Edgar dodged around the rest of her swords, drawing dripping red lines on her with their blades.

Amarant ran past the chaos guardian to help Sabin keep her in place as the Figaran prince got knocked around. Freya launched herself into the air as Vivi laced a spell over Steiner's blade. Odette and Eiko joined Dagger in placing protective spells on everyone. Drake aimed an arrow at the Chaos Guardian's torso, and it struck just as Freya was landing. Another ice spell struck her, and Drake winced at her screech.

She didn't fall nearly as fast as the other monsters they had faced in Memoria so far, but she did eventually fall. The majority of the group backed up as the guardian drooped, blood dripping from her arms and torso.

"It is over...Take this!" Blue flame suddenly sprouted over all six of her swords, and she swung them down into the road at everyone's feet. Everyone yelled as the structure shook. Drake fell to one knee to keep from toppling over the edge. Odette grabbed hold of his shoulder to steady herself, her other hand holding up Eiko.

When the dust cloud from the destruction ended, there was a significant gap in the bridge. Sabin and Amarant were on the other side of it, looking a little shaken. They both looked like they had barely scrambled to safety. Drake stood carefully, looking around. He noticed a connecting walkway that he was pretty sure hadn't been there before, and followed it with his eyes.

"Zidane." The leader of their little group turned to look at Drake as he heard his name called, and blinked. "I swear that wasn't there before, but it'll connect to where Amarant and Sabin are." Sabin was scooting back from the edge, wiping a hand over his face. Amarant had already backed up and was carefully getting up.

"Right. Sabin, Amarant, stay put, we'll be over there soon." Both of the men nodded, and the rest of the group got up. Odette, Eiko, and Dagger cast heal spells on anyone that needed it. Thankfully there weren't many of their party that needed it. Drake wasn't sure if they had enough ethers if they all needed healing after every battle. At least the foes in Memoria seemed to be the loner types.

Amarant and Sabin had both used potions on themselves by the time the rest of the group got to where they were, and they continued along the pathway. Drake didn't deliberately think about how convenient it was that a new pathway had been created once the old one had been damaged beyond use. Though it did occur to him that there was some force that wanted them to stop Kuja.

As they passed through an archway, their surroundings changed. Drake wasn't sure where they were until he saw Castle Alexandria out the vaulted open windows to their left. He halted as the rest did, and scratched his head for a moment before pulling his hood up. Memoria felt a little on the cold side to him.

"Isn't this...Alexandria?" Eiko sounded just as confused as Drake felt. Odette glanced at him before looking out the windows again, her eyebrows pulled together. Drake tilted his head at her before he remembered what this 'room' of Memoria had introduced, in the game.

"What is Alexandria Castle doing here?" Most everyone jumped as the air around them seemed to change. Drake's jaw dropped as the images of Bahamut and Alexander superimposed over the castle before fading, taking the castle with it, leaving a dim grey nothingness as far as the eye could see.

"What!? What you talk about!? I not see anything!" Drake hummed thoughtfully and tapped his chin as Dagger started forwards towards the windows, tears welling up in her eyes. Zidane turned to look at Quina, frowning.

"Well, that was interesting. Garland said that Memoria is made out of our memories. Quina and Odette weren't there, so they wouldn't see Alexandria's destruction, but for me, I only saw it up until the destruction started, and then it all faded, because my eyes were injured partway through." Everyone turned to look at Drake, and he smiled sheepishly. "That was shown in the story, too, though I wasn't expecting to only see part of it." Zidane jumped and looked up to the ceiling.

"What happened ten years ago?" Drake tilted his head to the side, wondering what Garland was telling him. He glanced around before doing a double-take and walking past Dagger and Eiko to pick up a flute of gold with what looked like curving, feathered wings framing the hole that the player blew into. He offered it to Eiko, who blinked at him. Zidane looked annoyed, crossing his arm and glaring at nothing in particular.

There was no reason for them to stay in that room, so they continued on. The gravity in the next section seemed nonexistent despite it still pulling them onto the semi-ruined stairs, as there were tables, lamps, and chairs floating past them. Drake had to stop and tug Odette along when she would have stopped and stared at a book that was floating just by the door at the top of the stairs. While he was also curious about what that book said, they couldn't afford to fall behind the others.

The next room sent chills up Drake's back, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. Odette was also looking around like she was feeling spooked, but the only ones that see anything odd about the room were Zidane and Dagger, who hunched a little.

"A storm?" Zidane flinched a little as he looked upwards, like he was protecting his eyes from the raindrops. Drake blinked, and for a brief moment, he saw the storm, and bloodstains on the stairs they were climbing. He blinked again, and everything was dry and unstained. He swallowed hard, trying to avoid drawing attention to him.

They walked through a ruined building that reminded Drake heavily of a church and over a bridge. Every once in a while, Drake could see the storm and carnage, and every once in a while, he saw Odette flinch. He gently wrapped his arm around her waist as Zidane nearly launched himself over the railing of the bridge to call a warning to someone below that no one else saw. Sabin kept him from going completely over by grabbing hold of his tail. When he was pulled back, he turned to Dagger. Drake couldn't quite hear what either of them said, but Zidane looked confused when he looked back down. All Drake could see was a dock, though when he blinked and saw the storm, he saw a boat bobbing there as well, for just a breath.

"I guess it was my imagination..." Zidane sounded confused as Drake and Odette caught up with the front of the group. Dagger turned to look at them both and then tilted her head at them, concerned, before turning back to Zidane. "Yeah, it had to be. What I just saw definitely isn't one of my memories." Zidane shook his head and looked at Drake, who shrugged. Zidane turned and started up the stairs.

"You didn't imagine that scene, Zidane." Dagger's words stopped the thief in his tracks, and he turned around again. Dagger looked up at him. "I saw it, too." Zidane blinked for a moment before tilting his head to the side.

"So that little girl was you?" Dagger nodded. "But...why was I able to see something from your memory?" Dagger shook her head, looking troubled. Drake glanced between them as Zidane tried to get Garland's attention, shouting at the sky. He didn't seem to get an answer, and he growled.

"I've been seeing only glimpses of the storm you mentioned. I think this might be a memory of Madain Sari." He glanced at Odette, who nodded, confirming that she was experiencing the same thing he was. When he looked back at Zidane, his blood brother had turned his attention from the sky to him.

"I think I know what happened ten years ago." That was Odette, hugging herself. Her eyes were troubled. "That was when Kuja attempted to pull a spirit from Earth, and got two. He'd needed to have a great deal of power to do so, power that could already call spirits of a sort." Zidane's face paled. "If he was already working to subvert Garland, it would make sense that he'd have pulled you away from Terra, Zidane." The thief took a deep breath in and sighed, shaking his head.

"I'd have been eight at the time. I was in Lindblum already, I think." The 'I think' hadn't sounded very firm. Drake shrugged and glanced at Dagger, who was looking even more concerned. "Well, whatever. We can talk about this later. We need to go stop Kuja." Drake sighed at the look on Zidane's face. He recognized it as a very determined 'not thinking about it' expression as he turned to hike up the stairs at the end of the bridge. "Woah! What is that thing?!" Everyone looked up at the end of the stairs, and Drake frowned.

"That eye...It's the same eye I saw on the night of the storm at sea." Drake glanced at Odette, who nodded. She could see it clearly as well. Zidane frowned at that, then tilted his head to the side like he was listening. His face grew even more troubled.

"What!? I don't remember ever being in a storm at sea. Or being to Madain Sari before following Eiko there." Drake tilted his head to the side at that, and then shrugged to himself. Chances were, Garland had just spoken to Zidane, using his typical cagey phrasings. "What do you mean? Can other people's memories become a part of my own?" Zidane glanced at Drake and Odette, frowning a little.

"I think the reason Odette and I have been getting flashes of what you see is because of the powers that fused the two halves of our souls together," Drake said softly. Odette nodded as well, still looking uncomfortable. "I don't think that's why you can remember, though." Zidane scowled and looked like he was listening before he shook his head with a scowl and started up the stairs again.

The rest of them followed Zidane up the stairs, though, Edgar caught up with Drake and climbed alongside him, giving him a worried look. Drake offered him a smile that felt a little too weak to be convincing. He paused and glanced back down at the rest, and blinked as he saw Amarant and Sabin arguing over a pair of claws that Drake hadn't noticed. A yell from above made him turn, and he reached for an arrow as soon as he saw the ragged looking wings. The name came to him before he even was aware that he was remembering.

"Tiamat." Drake paused for a moment to think, and then aimed his arrow high before loosing it. A few moments later, he heard the screech the new foe made as the arrow hit its mark. Odette glanced at him before building up a Fire spell. Vivi stumbled down the stairs to where they were, getting out of range.

"So, you have defeated Maliris..." The Lich's voice made them all cringe, the sound was not unlike fingernails on a chalkboard. "For Tiamat, there is only victory!" The lines of battle parted momentarily in front of Drake, and he saw their foe clearly.

Tiamat was a dragon with three heads and longer arms than Sabin and Edgar were tall, combined. Drake eyed the giant spade-shaped tail with a bit of concern. It looked long enough to reach where Drake stood. Odette backed up a little to allow Sabin and Amarant to pass by. They had split up the new pair of claws, each of them with a mismatched set.

Wind blew as Tiamat flapped its wings, and Drake crouched down to make a smaller profile for the wind to push against. Edgar did the same, not far from Drake, and then lunged in, keeping low until he needed to jump over one of Tiamat's claws. Steiner was charging in as well, and Vivi was chanting next to Drake, runes of fire burning in the air in a ring around him.

Every time Drake was about to draw his bowstring back to release an arrow, Tiamat flapped his wings to create a windstorm. He growled as his frustration mounted, and gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath through his nose to try to calm himself down. Finally, he noticed a glow around the edges of his vision and glanced down at himself. He smiled and closed his eyes, reaching for the power of Trance that was within his reach.

For the first time, he could feel the magic all around them. It took barely a moment to grasp some of it and turn it into a spell to summon his squad of Einherjar. He heard multiple people shout in surprise, and stood as the wind died around him.

Two young men whooped behind Drake, and then raced past him, Jay leaping into the air, and Vaan spinning his daggers as he dodged around the living. Each of them had a faint glow of purple around their forms. Cid the First stepped next to Drake and grinned at him before nocking an arrow to his large bow and pulling the string back.

Rocks lifted into the air. Drake glanced back and saw the dwarf geomancer creating an area for the einherjar to stand on. Penelo helped Tess onto one of the rocks before the two of them started to work on buffing the entire party. Lyn made sure that Violet and Key were safe, setting several barriers on both of them before starting a barrage of fire and ice spells on Tiamat. Zeke and Cecil jumped from stone to stone until they were at the front of the fight and worked together with Gala to batter the Chaos Guardian.

"Hallowed Father, First Sire, hear my plea, Come to our aid, O Purifier." Drake nodded to Cid as Rydia called upon Bahamut from the back of the fight, and the two archers starting up as large a rain of arrows as they could manage. Drake didn't even worry about running out of arrows, he just focused his mental efforts on keeping the thirteen warriors in the fight. He didn't even flinch as Key threw a ball of some sort that exploded on Tiamat.

The power of Trance didn't seem to last very long with the drain of keeping the Einherjar around, but they put out enough damage that Tiamat was on his last legs by the time they faded. Cid slapped Drake on the back as he faded, and Tess started to tease Lyn and Jay as the dragoon landed next to his paramour. Cecil saluted Steiner with a wry smile on his face. Gala nodded to Sabin, and they were all gone.

Odette supported Drake as he staggered, the wrist of his drawing hand moving to rest under his nose as he felt blood trickle out of it. Multiple healing spells washed over him from the three women in the group, and he accepted the ether that Freya offered him, gulping it down with a grimace.

There was a roar and a crash, and Drake looked up in time to see Tiamat topple off the stairway, taking only a few stones with him. Drake panted a bit and dabbed at his nose with a handkerchief that Odette handed him. He glanced at it and grimaced at the bright red splotches. He hated nosebleeds.

"Well, that was...interesting." Zidane sounded just as out of breath as everyone else. "You alright, Drake?" Drake hooked his bow over his shoulder and waved his hand to show he was alright, keeping the handkerchief pressed against his nose.

"Well, at least you didn't collapse," Edgar quipped, amused. Drake shot him a glare, but his grin just increased. "Figures that you would Trance on that fight, though. We couldn't keep him from messing with the wind enough for you to attack once he was aware of your presence." Drake grunted and started to climb up the stairs again.

The win seemed to ease some of the tension in the group, and many of them poked fun at each other as they climbed. Despite himself, Drake smiled a little as they walked through the shimmering illusion of a giant eye hovering in the sky.

Zidane called a halt just within the next area, and Drake sat with his back against one of the slightly pink rock walls, being careful that he wasn't sitting on rubble as he did so. He closed his eyes for a moment and checked that his nose wasn't bleeding anymore before tucking the handkerchief into his belt pouch.

"Here, Drake." Amarant passed Drake one of the cold pastries that Quina was passing out as a meal. The archer bit into it with a nod of thanks to the monk and closed his eyes again. He almost felt like his brain had been bruised by keeping the thirteen warriors in the fight, so not thinking sounded awfully nice.

He spaced out as the rest of the group chattered around him, slowly chewing the pasty that he'd received and occasionally drinking from his canteen. He pried one eye open as he felt someone dabbing at his face, and Odette blushed, caught in the act of cleaning dried blood away from his nose. She offered him the dampened handkerchief, and he gingerly wiped at his nose and upper lip.

"So you guys can do the summoning thing like Drake did?" Off towards the front of the group, Zidane was asking Edgar and Vivi about the feat Drake had just pulled off. All three of them were eating pasties as well. Drake eyed them before closing his eyes, feeling his energy wane. He fell asleep to the soft chatter, knowing that they would wake him up if they were going to start moving again.

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 **End Notes:** I had fun thinking up more references to throw into Memoria. I'll be changing more as I go on, tweaking things that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And who knows, I may end up drawing the stained glass windows that the group saw, too, eventually.


	7. Facets of Time

**Author's Notes:** As of writing this, I have finished the epilogue. It doesn't quite feel real, finally finishing this story that I started over five years ago. But hey, every project needs to come to an end. Enjoy the second to last chapter!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 7: Facets of Time

Drake grumbled as he jerked out of his sleep, blinking owlishly around until his eyes focused on the hand in front of his face. He looked up and saw Odette smiling down at him, and accepted her help up. He yawned and looked around, seeing that their companions were gathering up their belongings from their break.

Drake trailed along at the rear of the group, rubbing at his eyes as he struggled to wake completely from his nap. He blinked as the next section that they walked through didn't change as blatantly as the last one. The stones still had the pinkish hue that he was familiar with in Lindblum, though the light was darkening to twilight.

There were three barrels at a corner their path took, and Drake glanced in them because they were there, only to do a double-take and nearly fall into one as he reached for something at its bottom. Someone gripped his belt and hauled him back just as his hands closed around the item. He huffed and shook his head to get the blood flowing back out of it and looked over the item he'd picked up.

"Do you always have to grab what you see, Drake?" Edgar sounded like he wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or amused, though he eyed the leather-wrapped object Drake had in his hands curiously. Drake smiled sheepishly and unwrapped his bundle, nodding to himself.

"Ah, I thought so. Here, Edgar. A pair of daggers." Edgar blinked at the pair of daggers and spun one around his hand as he pulled it out of its sheath. He looked over it, pulled the other out, and started to laugh, sounding amused.

"Castor and Pollux. A rather fitting pair of names for the Chosen of Gemini." Edgar grinned broadly and replaced his current daggers with the new pair, running his fingers over the golden-toned wooden hilts. "They feel like they were made for my hands." Drake shrugged a little at that and looked around. Most of their group was waiting on them a short ways away. Drake smiled apologetically at them before walking again.

"Sorry, didn't mean to delay everyone." Freya rolled her eyes at him and started to walk again, and soon they were all back in the previous area. "Well that explains why there wasn't a change in scenery." Drake ducked as they passed under a ringing bell, covering his ears as he hurried away from the sound.

Under an archway not far from the bell, there was another chimera waiting for them, growling. It lasted even less time than the previous one. It barely even felt like they had broken pace as it tumbled into the abyss below, allowing them to pass by and up the stairs that slowly traded their pink tint for blue as they rose in elevation.

After the memory of Lindblum was gone from sight, the path turned from stairs to a road, complete with weeds sprouting up between the bricks. Drake paused mid-step and looked around before swearing. Everyone looked where he was looking and saw what looked like a truly ancient city in the distance...split in half with one half rotated ninety degrees and attached to the side of the other.

"What is that?" Above one of the halves of the ancient city was a sight even more curious than the questionable architecture. Two spheres impacted into each other in slow-motion, each with a moon trailing after them. Unlike in the game, which had been mostly in shades of blue and purple, this was vivid, deep red molten rock pouring out of the gashes caused by the collision and swirling around the two in an approximation of a ring system. "Two moons colliding...? No, they look more like planets." Drake rubbed at his mouth, frowning.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was Gaia and Terra," he said softly, frowning. "We've been kind of traveling back in time. But this is...This would have completely reset both planets. All life would have been wiped out, and it would have taken centuries for the conditions for life to return." He ignored the fact that people were staring at him. Zidane jumped a little and looked directly upwards of where he was standing, listening intently as a frown grew on his face.

"Garland says it's Terra's attempt to assimilate Gaia?" Drake frowned and stared at the distant spectacle. "They didn't actually physically collide, it's apparently a...metaphorical image?" Zidane didn't sound entirely sure about what he was saying. "He says this happened five thousand years ago." Drake crossed his arms and squinted at the image.

"Yeah, there's no way that could have happened five thousand years ago if that happened physically. Five billion, maybe, but not five thousand." He finally glanced sideways and saw Edgar staring at him. "One of the things the scientists of Earth figured out was how long it took life to propagate and evolve to become sentient, by observing the rock layers within canyons and assessing the fossils there."

"It does prove you right about Earth, though. Look." Dagger pointed a fair ways away from the two colliding planets, and everyone turned to look. Odette gasped, and Drake frowned. There was Earth with its large moon, a broken trail of something pearlescent leading towards it. "The broken flow of souls..." Drake nodded, still frowning.

"This was one of the things that struck me about the story when I first saw it. Earth was never mentioned, but I was able to figure it out once I started to puzzle out what wasn't mentioned in the stories." Zidane nodded a little and crossed his arms.

"I saw something like this in Oeilvert." Drake looked back at Terra and Gaia, and blinked as he saw that the molten rock was forming into something that looked like the roots of a tree around both Terra and Gaia. "Well, not the part with Earth, just Gaia and Terra overlapping." Zidane shrugged and started to walk along the road again. Drake frowned at his back.

"When did..." Drake trailed off as he thought. "Oh, that's right. You and some of the others went there while the rest of us were trapped in Figaro Castle." Drake started to walk, glancing at Odette in time to see her face fall. He grimaced a little at bringing back what was probably a horrible memory for his fiancé, and looked forwards again.

An iron giant was waiting for them at the gate to the city. Odette took her frustrations out on it, and managed to wreck it most of the way before Vivi finished it off. Drake winced at the destruction, and reminded himself to apologize for bringing up Figaro Castle at the first chance he got. While he admired Odette's power, he never wanted to give her a reason to turn it on him.

The city looked completely foreign to Drake, even once they'd reached it. He had never seen a creature like the statues that guarded the bridges before. They were a cross between a fish of some sort with a bottom-turned mouth, and a porcupine. There was water everywhere, and the blue-tinged rocks had given way to green, and not all of the green was moss.

They walked through part of the city before they reached a gate that had a waterfall pouring over the entrance. Drake paused on the bridge in front of it as Freya approached the gate to try to see if there was a way past the water that wasn't just walking straight through it. She shook her head at them, and Drake sighed, tugging at his hood so that it covered his face better. Odette put up a protect spell to ward off the water, but it didn't last terribly long. Most of them ended up drenched.

Beyond the gate, Drake felt strangely buoyant for a moment before gravity returned to normal. However, he did stare at a fish as it swam past his face. The moss on the walls slowly gave way to colonies of coral, and bigger and bigger fish began to appear. He wasn't the only one staring around with confusion, though Quina did have the strangest reaction. S/he began to swim in the air once the tunnel they'd been walking through opened up into what looked like a shallow sea. The ceiling itself looked like the surface of water from underneath, even.

"What a strange room," Odette murmured as Quina confirmed that s/he thought they were under the ocean ahead of them. "These coral never existed on earth, as far as I'm aware. This must be an ancient ocean on Gaia. Look." She pointed, and Drake turned to look. Sure enough, there was a creature that reminded him of a trilobite scuttling along the sandy pathway they were walking on.

"Why would we be able to see it, though?" There was a thud, and everyone turned to see Quina picking themself up off the ground. "Oh. Must have realized that we aren't actually underwater." Drake turned his head and continued to look around. "Wait, where did all the fish go?" He frowned, reaching for his bow.

Tentacles appeared around the top of a ridge of coral, and Odette took a step back the moment she saw it. Drake grimaced and checked his quiver before realizing he had to switch it out. As he did so, the creature that had scared all the fish away hauled itself into clear view. Drake's grimace grew worse as he saw the creature clearly.

"Ew." Drake glanced at Odette in time to see her shudder, and pulled one of his arrows from his quiver. Glancing at its tip, he grimaced. He was running out of arrows. Once the last of them were gone, he'd be all but useless.

"I am the 'Water Chaos', Kraken... Your presence is forbidden!" Even its voice burbled unpleasantly, and Drake couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at its taste in fashion. The silk that it had decided to drape its body in was rotting, and all the gold on it was tarnished.

"I think I see why you didn't want to talk about the Water Temple," Zidane commented drily. He spun his weapon hand over hand in front of him, little bubbles of 'air' following the blades as it spun. "That thing looks all kinds of nasty."

"Is it at all safe to be using electric magic here?" Drake blinked at Sabin's point, and tilted his head to the side. He hadn't stopped to think about that. Undoubtedly, that would be the best method to use against Kraken, but they were technically still underwater, themselves.

"Only one way to find out." Odette was already gathering magic along the edge of one of her swords. Drake noticed with a start that she hadn't been fighting with both of her swords out as much as she used to. She swung her right-hand sword upwards to launch the spell at Kraken, and it exploded into a Thundaga spell. "Nope, we don't get affected by it. Nice to know."

Drake sighed and drew his bowstring back, taking aim at one of the two major tentacles that Kraken had sprouting from its back. He took a deep breath in before loosing the arrow, feeling rather than seeing that it would strike its target true. It was a sense of peace that he'd been missing, he realized. Memoria was full of questions even for a gamer, let alone someone having to hike through it. Life just made more sense with his bow in his hands. Maybe once he retired he could go back to just hunting.

Drake's arrow took out the left tentacle without much trouble, damaging the tip so it dripped blue blood. Kraken screeched, a warbly sound that grated on Drake's nerves enough to make him cringe. He paused as he straightened up, his eyes finding a red gem that was set at what would have been Kraken's throat had he had one.

He had to withstand a Water spell getting thrown at him before he was able to draw another arrow from his quiver. He didn't bother to think about why the Water spells actually hurt if they were underwater, or why their weapons trailed air bubbles if they were in air.

Everyone jumped as Drake's arrow struck the gem on Kraken's chest. Odette cast a Reflect spell on Kraken in time to reflect a Water spell off of it. Drake blinked a bit, but then remembered that Odette, Eiko, and Dagger had all fought Kraken before, so they would know his tricks better than anyone else. Heck, he didn't even remember as much about the end of the game as he'd like.

When the fireworks of the Water spell faded, Drake wiped his face and patted his quiver. He didn't feel any fletchings, so he looked down, twisting to peer at the opening of it. He swore, and reached in his pouch to see if he had any other quivers of arrows. His swearing only grew, and he scowled as he looked up. Edgar was tilting his head at him.

"I'm out of arrows." Edgar sighed at that and gestured for him to back up, an annoyed look on his face as he turned to look back at Kraken. "At least I helped a little," Drake muttered to himself as he shoved the empty quiver back into his belt pouch. He crouched to make a smaller target of himself, slinging his bow over his shoulder.

Between Odette and Vivi casting Thundaga spells at Kraken and Dagger summoning Ramuh, Kraken didn't last long. Eiko cast healing spells on everyone as Drake stood up, though everyone jumped at the sound of applause. Drake yelped; the sound was coming from directly behind him. He lurched forwards and turned to see who had snuck up on him in time to see the man smile apologetically at him.

"Sorry, I thought you knew I was here. Well done, all of you! Especially you, my dear, well done on the timing of that Reflect spell." Odette blinked at him, and then her eyes widened. Drake frowned and glanced between them, tilting his head to the side. Though he did have a familiar buzzing in the back of his head that reminded him of...

"You're a Constellato. What are you doing here?" Edgar sounded confused, though he was putting his blades away slowly. Odette had a hand over her mouth, her eyes still wide. The Constellato gave a sweeping bow, a wide grin on his face.

"I realized that there was someone I needed to give something to." All of a sudden, he tossed something to Odette, who caught it with one hand, the other still holding a sword. She blinked at it, and then at him, an unreadable look on her face. "I've something for you, too," Hades told Drake, turning to him. He patted his pockets before finding what he'd been looking for.

An unstrung bow emerged from a pocket that must have worked like Drake's belt pouch and handed to the archer. The moment his fingers touched it, purple light flickered into existence where the bowstring should have been. His eyes widened as the grip fit into his hand perfectly. He hesitantly touched the bowstring made of light, and found it was cool to the touch and had the perfect draw weight when he pulled it back.

"I...wow." Drake was speechless as he looked over the smooth metal bow, purple arrow inlays along the sleek belly of the weapon. "I don't have any arrows, though." He couldn't tear his eyes away from it. It almost felt like it had changed itself to suit him.

"You don't need any. The only reason an arrow didn't form when you drew the bowstring back was because you were doing it to test it. You have to concentrate on using it as a weapon for the arrow to form." When Drake looked up, he saw that Odette had sheathed her sword and was looking over the object that Hades had tossed to her. Drake had a feeling it was a Stellazio.

"So why didn't you just give that to her last time she was in Treno? That is where you stay most of the time, isn't it?" Hades looked sheepish at Sabin's words, and scratched the back of his head. Edgar looked amused, but was politely not looking at the Constellato.

"Oh, er. It didn't seem like the, ah, correct time." Drake lifted an eyebrow as Odette rolled her eyes, and was suddenly reminded of the fact that most Red Mages had a fondness for dramatics. It stood to reason that the Constellato they bowed to would have that same fondness. "Anyway, it seems you all are ready to move on. The Constellato and Einherjar are with you."

Hades bowed again, and stepped back behind a ridge of coral, and was gone. Drake blinked a few times before turning to look at Odette, who looped the cord the pendant she'd been given was on over her neck. When Drake looked at it, he was surprised to see it was a pendant of a pair of scales like merchants used.

"We are ready to go, though." Zidane pointed out the obvious, and started towards the staircase that looked like it was half rubble, half naturally occurring sedimentary rock. Drake noted with a small amount of annoyance that he couldn't loop his new bow over his shoulder like he'd gotten used to. He had to carry it in his hand at all times.

Something about their surroundings seemed off to Drake as they reached the top of the 'water' and emerged on top of a line of what looked like basalt. He paused partway up, looking around. The land above the water was covered in ancient plants, mostly short ones that hadn't yet developed a reason to grow to the heights found in modern Gaia. He blinked, seeing a small platform not far from where they were, and what looked like a sword sticking out of it.

"Is that...?" Drake tilted his head to the side, seeing that the blade looked familiar somehow, and climbed up the steps enough that he could jump to the platform. The blade took a couple of tugs, and he looked over it as everyone else noticed what he had spotted. "Hey Steiner, isn't this the sword that General Beatrix uses?" Drake jumped back onto the stairs, and let Sabin steady him before offering the blade to the old knight hilt-first.

"It is. How did it get here?" Drake shrugged, but rummaged in his belt pouch until he came up with an empty quiver that could be used as a make-shift sheath for the blade. Everyone stared at the blade, but it was eventually handed to Drake so he could store it in his belt pouch.

"Okay, so, barring the confusion with the sword, what on earth is going on here?" Drake blinked at Zidane, who gestured at the landscape. "This is still Memoria, right? Well, I don't remember ever seeing any of these plants. Or any of the creatures down in that ocean there. So why do I seem to have a memory of Gaia being covered completely in water?" Drake and Odette exchanged glances.

"The evolution of life," Drake suggested. Odette nodded, and Drake turned to look at Zidane. "Some of the scientists back on Earth have suggested that there's such a thing as genetic memory. Except since you're from Terra, I think it's safe to say things went the same there." Drake looked up and frowned. "Though in the story, this section was... well, it was more like the early sections. Man-made structures, not natural ones."

The columns of basalt started to lift up off of the ground and spread out. They started having to jump from column to column, but thankfully no one fell. An odd object appeared off to the side of their floating pathway.

Drake tilted his head to the side at the broken clock face. Their path led right to the stairs that went over the top half of what seemed to have once been a truly impressive clocktower. Drake was surprised by how comforted he was by the fact that there were regular stairs now, with railings. Though the stairs didn't go very far

Beyond a door, there was a platform with a ladder. More than one person stared dubiously at the metal ladder. Drake looked between it and the bow that he couldn't loop over his shoulder like his old ones. His eyes eventually slid to the image beyond the ladder, and he frowned.

"Too dim to be a star...That must be Gaia as it was first forming." Several sounds of confusion came from the others, and Drake gestured with his bow towards the giant fireball. "That's what a young planet looks like. All molten stone. It's also what Gaia would have looked like if Terra had physically collided with Gaia." Odette nodded, humming in agreement.

"I think the discovery that there were planets around other stars happened in our lifetime, back on Earth. It gave scientists the chance to figure out how Earth had formed. There had been theories, of course, but very few had been testable while on Earth itself, because of gravity, and only a few had been able to go up into the space beyond the atmosphere." Edgar's eyes were glittering with curiosity, and Drake smiled a little at him.

"Once we're home, we'll tell you all about space travel, Ed, I promise." Odette blinked at him and laughed a little, amused. "Can we sit down here and rest for a while? After climbing up those rocks, I think I'd like to take a break." Zidane shrugged a bit at that, and Drake sighed with relief before finding a part of the crumbling railing of the platform to lean against.

They largely were quiet as they rested, and Drake swore that Eiko and Vivi both dropped off to sleep. Zidane had his head tilted to the side like he was listening to Garland, but he wasn't offering any information, so Drake was fine with that. Sabin had his eyes closed, in a meditating seat with his hands on his knees. Amarant looked like he was also meditating, but it was impossible to tell whether his eyes were closed. Ed had the far-off look in his eyes that meant he was thinking about machines, and Odette was tracing a bit of embroidery on her skirt, head tilted to the side.

Drake decided to acquaint himself with his bow, and ran his fingers over every inch of it, finding the places where the power that formed the bowstring and the arrows hummed under the metal. He also found the word 'Sagittarius' etched along the belly of the bow, filled in with a purple enamel so dark it was almost black. Again, he felt as though it was aligning itself with him.

"Alright, let's go." Everyone looked up as Zidane stood up. Sabin leaned over and gently shook Eiko awake as Odette woke Vivi. Both children blinked around, disoriented. Eiko accepted a piggyback ride from Sabin, and Amarant grudgingly gave Vivi one as they started up the ladder. Drake slid his bow into his belt pouch as he climbed after them.

They climbed for what felt like forever before finding what looked like floating islands with ferns sprouting out the sides. Drake sighed and sat on the platform at the top, stretching out his arms. One by one, the rest of the group arrived. Odette looked frustrated, and her skirt was tied up above her knees so that it stayed out of the way.

There was a clatter, and everyone turned to look. Vivi froze, a new staff at his feet. Drake smiled wearily at him and gestured for him to pick it up. Vivi did so carefully, and turned his eyes to it. Everyone else eventually went back to their own thing, and recovered from their long climb.

Drake was, surprisingly, the first one up the next ladder, but it was far shorter. It led up to a domed building with a bit of walking room between the door and the ladder. Drake pulled out his bow, and halted with a thought, looking at the architecture. On Earth, this sort of look was associated with the gods, and they had gone back through time past the beginning of Gaia itself. There were many creation myths that started before the beginning of the world. Was this where those early gods had lived?

Once most of the group was at least on the ladder, Drake pulled his bow out of his belt pouch and opened the door, because he was pretty sure that there wasn't nearly enough room for all of them to stand in front of the building. The inside of the building wasn't much better, but it did have more doors than it had looked like from the outside. At least at first.

The moment the last of their group stepped through the door, the building changed. The dome was gone, leaving the blackness of space lit only by stars. Drake's breath caught in his chest for a moment in awe of the sight. His view of the stars had been tainted by light pollution on Earth, and the horizons had always been blocked by trees on Gaia.

"Wow..." Drake wasn't the only one overwhelmed by the sight. Edgar's eyes were wide as he drank in the sight. A scent made Drake pause and look around. The trappings of the building had faded, leaving a great deal more room, but there was no sign of what was causing the stink that Drake had just noticed, until he looked up.

"Incoming!" Everyone's attention moved to Drake, and then up at the creature that Drake had noticed. They scattered to the edges of the room as the creature dropped to the middle of it. The wave of air carried its stench to the rest, and Drake cringed, covering his nose with his free hand as his eyes watered.

"I, the 'Earth Chaos', Lich, commend your feat. But your life ends now." Lich's voice rattled, and Drake grimaced. The voices of all of the Chaos Guardians were unpleasant in their own ways. If he remembered right, though, beyond here lay the Crystal World, which was populated by crystal imitations of the Chaos Guardians. He shook his head a little, reminding himself that he had to concentrate on the here and now.

His bow hummed under his hands as he concentrated on his intent to kill Lich. It came as no surprise to him when an arrow sprouted between his fingers as he grasped the bowstring. He eyed Lich, trying to figure out where the best place to strike was. He couldn't go for the center of mass like he could on a living person because it was more likely to bounce off of a rib or go straight through. The skull wasn't likely to cause much concern, either, but it was the best target available.

They all hit Lich like a battering ram, though Zidane, Edgar, and Quina hit hardest of all. It made sense, seeing as they had fought Lich once before. Drake was surprised by how quickly he could reset with his bow, now that he no longer needed to grab a new arrow and set it on the bowstring.

Drake gasped as he was hit by a Doom spell, feeling _some_ thing settle in his chest uncomfortably. He gritted his teeth and drew his bowstring back, concentrating on making the arrow do as much damage as possible. His strength waned as the spell continued to eat away at him until he was on the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Full-Life!" Drake coughed with relief as the spell chased out the Doom status that had been eating at him, and pushed himself up with a grunt. Sabin offered him a hand up and he took it, grimacing at the lingering pain. Even with healing spells, he was going to be sore for a while. Most of the fight had already gone past while he was on the ground. As he caught his breath, Lich fell, and Odette rushed to Drake's side, her eyes worried.

"I'm alright, Odette, I promise." She hugged him tightly, and he winced. "Ow. Okay, so maybe I'm still a bit sore." Her arms loosened a little, and he hugged her back. "Sorry I scared you." Edgar punched Drake in the shoulder, and the archer eyed him. "Sorry I scared you too, Ed." There was a distinct tinge of sarcasm in his voice when he directed it at his blood brother.

They all looked around after the fight, trying to figure out where to go next. Drake moved to what was left of the door they had walked through and looked down. There was no island below them. There wasn't even a ladder there anymore. When he turned around, he saw Zidane was at the gate on the other side of the platform, head tilted to the side like he was listening. As Drake watched, Zidane hesitantly stepped off the platform and onto something that couldn't be seen.

"A step of faith? Really?" Drake's comment made everyone turn to look at Zidane. "Well, I guess we've seen weirder since entering Memoria." Drake sighed and walked over to the gate. Zidane made a couple more hesitant steps forwards, and Drake swallowed as he stepped out into space, not breaking his pace for fear he just wouldn't continue if he halted.

It was almost like walking on something inflatable, he realized as he walked a couple of paces off of the stone and looked down. He still couldn't see anything under his feet. He turned and looked back at the rest and smiled encouragingly. He had a feeling that his uncertainty still showed through, though.

One by one, the group stepped off of the stone. Odette led Eiko, who covered her eyes as she walked. Drake pulled out a scarf for them all to hang onto while they walked so they wouldn't get separated once that concern was brought up. There were times that what they were walking on felt like it was shifting underfoot.

They all got pretty tired after walking for what felt like hours. Zidane had to break up arguments from the head of the group as tempers flared. Eventually, there was a flare of light that lit up right in front of Zidane, and they all were pulled into it.

Drake blinked and held a hand over his eyes as he recovered from the light, though he felt something firm under his feet again. His eyes ached a bit, but a Curaga spell helped him feel a bit better. When he opened his eyes again, he just had to squint a little until one of the Einherjar helped him by adjusting his eyes so everything looked a little darker. It was nice, almost like a pair of sunglasses.

' _You're welcome._ ' Zeke's voice echoed in Drake's head, and he smiled a little, thanking him before looking around properly. Zeke must have been the one to help him in this way on top of the Pillar of the World, too. He definitely needed the eye protection this time. They all stood on a path that looked like it had been carved out of quartz. Light refracted through it all, scattering enough that it was impossible to tell where the source was.

To their left was a large orb that also looked like it had been made of crystal, with peaks where the surface had been swirled. It was impossible to tell just how far away the orb was from the path, but it looked to be huge. Drake wasn't the only one looking around, nor was he the only one staring at the orb.

"Where is this? This isn't Memoria..." Drake shook his head and adjusted his hood so it blocked out more of the light. There was a slight ringing sound that he could swear was the crystals resonating, but each time he thought he could pick out exactly where it was coming from, it moved.

"This is called the Crystal World," he said softly. "I don't know where the name came from, but that's what I've always heard it called." Zidane shrugged, still in front of Drake. Both of them turned to look at something that climbed up from underneath the crystal path. "Oh yeah. That's a thing, too."

'That' ended up being a crystal version of Kraken. Considering that the crystal Kraken was weaker than the previous version and more than one of them had a more powerful weapon, it didn't last very long. Drake kicked a chunk of the shattered foe off the path, only to see it start to float in place.

"Please tell me that was the only one." Freya had a tone of exaggerated patience. Drake shook his head and smiled apologetically at her. Freya sighed and ran a hand along her snout, grimacing. "I suppose we ought to be careful, then." Drake nodded, and they started forwards, shoving the larger chunks of crystal off the path so they could pass by.

As they walked, the crystals slowly gained color, first turning yellow, then orange and shades of brown. Larger crystals started to appear alongside the path as it spiraled in towards the largest crystal in the vicinity. Drake paused and looked away from it for a moment, frowning a little. There was nothing but crystals, but the farther away from the largest one, the smaller they got, until they looked like stars against the black.

"Drake? Something wrong?" Sabin noticed Drake stop. The archer shook his head as he turned and started to walk again, giving Sabin a reassuring smile. Amarant and Freya had paused as well to look back at him, Odette just a step beyond them.

"Nah, I was just wondering what there was around here besides crystals. Come on, the others are gonna kill that crystal Lich without us if we don't catch up." Sure enough, there was a crystal version of Lich hovering in front of the vanguard of their small army.

The Lich was dead by the time they rejoined the group, but there were six more crystal Chaos Guardians on their path before they got to the main crystal. Drake managed to figure out that his bow was particularly good against crystalline creatures, even if the effect wasn't seen immediately. What did make everyone jump was when a bolt of pure mana would jump from crystal to crystal with a crash like lightning.

The path led them into a crevice in the surface of the main crystal, and Drake paused on the path to rest a hand against one of the sides, only to snatch his hand away as he felt the buzz of crystallized mana through his glove. He rubbed his hand as he trotted to catch up to the rest.

When he caught up, he found that they had all stopped. Odette was standing there with her head tilted to the side, like Zidane had been when he was listening to Garland. After a moment, she looked around and stepped to a wall of crystal that looked like it had inclusions of metal in it. She reached towards it with both hands, wincing as mana crackled around her hands. Drake started forwards, but was stopped by Edgar.

When Odette stepped back away from the wall, she had two swords in her hands. Mana still crackled around them, but they looked like a strange cross between metal and crystal. She held them up, and Drake finally stepped around Edgar, looking concerned. Odette noticed him and gave him a soft smile.

"I'm fine. Do you have any spare quivers?" Drake frowned a little at her but pulled out a couple more empty quivers that she put her metal swords into before sliding her new swords into the old sheathes. Drake put the metal swords into his belt pouch before looking at Dagger, who was also holding a rod made of crystal that also crackled with mana.

"I'm fine. I was running a little low on mana when I touched the wall, so it recharged me." Drake blinked at that and looked at Odette, who nodded. Drake sighed and rubbed at his face. Even with Zeke's help and his hood, he was starting to get a threatening ache behind his left eye. Or maybe it was the jolt of mana he'd gotten when he had touched the wall.

"Fools!" Everyone jumped at the booming voice, and Drake turned as a figure jumped from somewhere above them to land on the other side of the wide section of the crevasse they were in. Drake automatically settled in a ready stance as the stranger turned around, swirling his bright red cloak dramatically. "If you wish to reach the crystal to destroy it, you will have to go through the best swordsman of-"

"Gilgamesh, you do realize that we're here to _save_ the crystal, not destroy it?" Drake cut off the swordsman's speech and got stared at as he relaxed his stance. "The one that means to destroy it is the one we're trying to stop." Gilgamesh leaned forwards to stare at him. Drake shrugged. "Or would you prefer I call you Alleyway Jack?" Gilgamesh growled and crossed one set of arms.

"Hmph. I see there are legends of me from that land yet." More than one person snorted, and Drake shook his head with a small smile. Sabin looked disappointed that there wasn't going to be a fight and looked away from Gilgamesh.

"Not really. The stories I know you from are from another world entirely. One that could look into Gaia in all its incarnations." Gilgamesh stiffened for a moment and then straightened from his slouch to look intently at Drake. "Yes, I am a Whole Soul."

"It has been many years since I last crossed swords with a man such as you." Drake lifted an eyebrow at that and pointedly looked at his bow. "Ah. You aren't a swordsman." One of Gilgamesh's hands lifted to scratch at the side of his face.

"I'm horrible with a sword." Drake couldn't help the small smile pulling at his mouth. "I've managed to injure myself more with a wooden one than anyone else." Gilgamesh grimaced a little at that and looked at the rest of the group.

"An admirable cadre of warriors, nonetheless. I would join you on your quest, but... I was supposed to meet with Enkidu." Drake shrugged a little at that, and looked at Zidane, who was still looking at Gilgamesh like he wasn't sure what to make of him.

"We should get moving again anyhow. The more time we waste, the more time Kuja has to damage the crystal." Zidane nodded at that, his face grim. Edgar started to move again, towards the front of the group now. He eyed Gilgamesh warily as he turned away, but kept walking, his shoulders tense. Drake waved to Gilgamesh before turning and starting to walk, hyper aware of the man's eyes on his back.

Only a few minutes later, they were out of sight of Gilgamesh. Edgar sighed and allowed his shoulders to relax, though he still scowled. Drake was listening hard, he'd heard crystal scraping against crystal a while back but hadn't seen anything that looked like an enemy. His fingers were resting against the bowstring, but no arrow sprouted between his fingers yet.

After a moment, Drake started to walk again, climbing up a jumble of crystals to the top of the hill. His boots slipped a couple of times as the path got steeper. When he reached the top of the hill, he paused and looked around. The crevice had led them to a plain full of towers of dark crystals. Occasionally an orb of light like the phenomenon called pyreflies in Final Fantasy Ten floated past, lighting up a spire to reveal the color within the crystal.

"Wow..." Eiko grabbed hold of some fabric on Drake's pants leg as she stood next to him, her eyes wide as she looked around. "It's so pretty." The rest of the group also expressed their admiration for the scenery. A pyrefly looped around them, and Drake followed it with his eyes, a frown slowly growing on his face.

"What that?" Drake hummed a bit in response to Quina's question, trying to figure out how to word his answer. Knowing Quina s/he would want to know if it was edible, he was going to have to be a bit more careful than he would if anyone else had asked.

"It's called a pyrefly. In one of the other stories, the tenth one, they were known to be the souls of the dead. I'm not sure why they're here, though. They don't have a physical form, but if enough of them gather together, they can create what's called a fiend, if the souls hold a grudge against the living. If they don't, they can create an image of the past." Drake shook his head slowly, watching as the pyrefly he'd been watching swung behind a red-violet spire. "But I don't know how they got here. The crystal is the source of all life, there shouldn't have been anything to create them yet."

Slowly, his unease spread to the rest as they figured out what he meant. Odette looked around at the scenery again, this time assessing to see if there were any hiding spots. Edgar and Sabin did the same. Zidane was looking down from the top of the hill, scowling.

"The path ends here." Drake paused and blinked before looking around. Zidane was right. Only a few feet from where Drake stood, crystal spikes sprouted from the ground, threatening to spear anyone that thought to climb over them. There were two very tall ones flanking the end of the path, but nothing else was there.

"Well, how about we rest before we start to look for the offshoot we missed," Sabin suggested with a sigh. He found a crystal with a flat top and sat gingerly on it until he was sure that it wouldn't shift under him and send him tumbling into the sharper stones. "I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm starting to feel the trip."

Drake glanced around at the rest of their group and realized that they all looked pretty tired. He didn't feel it so much, but then he'd had a nap a while ago, in the area that looked like Lindblum. Everyone else had been going for hours longer.

"Yeah, alright. We all could use some rest." Drake sat down on the path, groaning a little as his joints protested. Quina passed along some more food. Where s/he had been keeping them, Drake had no idea, but it still tasted pretty good. He was surprised to find that once he was sitting, he was too tired to ponder what was in the pastry shell.

More than one person started to nod off as they mechanically chewed their food. Drake finished his and started to stretch gingerly, struggling through his sudden exhaustion to try to remember how close they were to Kuja. His stretching reminded the others that they had to do the same, and soon Sabin was talking Eiko and Vivi through some easy stretches.

Drake had no idea that something was changing until Zidane looked up and yelped. Everyone else looked up, and Drake's eyes widened. Hundreds of pyreflies were swarming in their direction. He lurched to his feet as they arrived, some shooting through his body with a feeling like ice that made him gasp.

An image appeared around them as he pressed a hand to his chest. Odette's fingers curled around his elbow as he forgot to breathe. Everyone else was still getting to their feet, looking around with confusion at the image the pyreflies were showing them.

"It's...Earth..." Odette sounded as breathless as Drake felt. He swallowed hard, feeling a fierce yearning he hadn't expected welling up inside him. "More than that, this is...this is my neighborhood." Drake finally forced himself to move, and was absurdly relieved when the illusion didn't dissolve simply because he'd moved his head.

"This is Earth? It's so...spacious." Edgar looked around at the suburban neighborhood. "And clean. Unnaturally so. What's with the grass?" Drake looked around and couldn't see what Edgar was referring to. "There's no clover, no flowers..." Odette smiled faintly, but she wasn't looking at any of the others.

"It's a status symbol. Having a spread of land that isn't cultivated for anything but a single strain of grass that isn't useful for anything is a sign that the people that own the house are wealthy. It's stupid, really." There was a bit of bitterness in her voice, and her smile turned into a grimace. "And that's not taking into account the trappings of status you'd be more familiar with, like behavior, clothing, and buildings."

There was a rumble, and Drake turned his head in time to see a bright red car barrel harmlessly through their group. There wasn't a physical sensation this time, but it still made his heart leap into his throat. It was nothing like the reaction the rest of the group had, though. Edgar physically leapt out of the way, eyes wide, and Quina fell over while the rest merely stiffened.

"And then there's those," Drake said dryly. "There's some people that say the size of a man's car is inverse to..." Drake trailed off as Odette sniggered a little. Edgar looked befuddled at the comparison, while Sabin and Zidane were trying to keep from laughing. "That. Of course, there's a trend toward larger ones anyhow. Why, I have no idea."

"Because they're more expensive and go 'vroom'," Odette replied as the vision rippled and changed to another neighborhood. "Oh." Drake's breath caught again. His mother, recognizable even to those that had only known her in Caledonia, sat on the front step with her arms wrapped around a stuffed wolf toy.

"Mom..." Drake grimaced as his voice cracked and suddenly had to blink back tears. The stuffed wolf was a favorite toy of his when he was a young boy. Odette's grip tightened on his arm. There were other things on the front step, boxes and suitcases stacked on top of each other. "Is...are those my old things or...?" He didn't want to have to think about his death driving his parents from the house they'd been so close to paying off.

"She looks just about the same here as she does in Caledonia," Edgar murmured. Drake didn't look over his shoulder at him. "At least the yard here looks proper." Drake finally tore his eyes away from his mom and looked at the garden.

"...She hasn't been tending her garden for a while." All of the flowers that he was used to seeing in the garden had been choked out by weeds. Thistles and dandelions bloomed in place of lilies and peonies. Crabgrass and clover encroached on the normal grass, to the point that Drake had to wonder just how long it had been since he and Cass had...

The image faded, and Drake took a step towards his mother, trying to reach out for her, only to have a pyrefly brush past his fingers as she looked up and faded entirely. He was left reaching for nothing at all, and had to blink tears from his eyes. Suddenly he wanted to do nothing but go back to Caledonia and hug his mother, though it wouldn't reach the one he truly wanted to hug.

Arms wrapped around him from behind, and Drake closed his eyes before reaching up and rubbing at his eyes. He could tell that it was Odette that was hugging him, but he didn't want the rest to see him crying. He couldn't quite explain why, but perhaps it was at least partially pride. He had a job to do still, he couldn't allow himself to fall apart just yet.

"You okay?" That was Zidane, behind Drake still, but closer than he had been before. Drake nodded and took a deep breath, pulling on the calm that he usually felt while aiming for an enemy. He needed to cling to that, even if he felt like a balloon on a string currently.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He was distantly pleased that his voice didn't even crack, nor was it choked up. He took another deep breath, and smiled a little as he felt a cure spell sweeping through him from where Odette was hugging him. It helped alleviate some of effects of the tears that had leaked out.

When he turned around, most of the group still looked concerned. The three that knew him best looked even more concerned when he offered them a small smile. He looked away from them to look over the landscape again, and frowned as he realized that all of the pyreflies had disappeared. Where to, Drake really couldn't see.

"Okay, so I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'd like to find the way forward now." Eiko sounded rather uncertain. Drake was about to turn to start heading back the way they'd came when he felt more than heard vibrations in the crystals around them.

Odette and Dagger cast protective spells on the entire group as the vibrations rocked the ground beneath their feet. Crystal fragments rose up into the air as they were knocked free, and some even bounced off of the protect spells. Drake steadied Odette automatically, though he wasn't looking around like the rest had been.

When the quake had passed, everyone waited a few moments in case there were aftershocks, and then started to take stock in what had changed. Drake managed to direct their attention towards what they had previously thought was a dead end.

"That portal wasn't there before." Drake sounded oddly calm, even to his own ears. "Did the quake activate it?" The light in the two pillars that flanked the portal flickered like all the pyreflies had been sucked into them.

"It must have. I get the feeling that's our way forwards, too." Zidane sounded even surer than Drake felt, despite the fact that Drake was the one with the future knowledge. Then again, Zidane was the leader of their group and had to at least pretend that he knew what he was doing, if it wasn't just a connection he had to Kuja that Drake couldn't quite grasp in words at the moment.

The majority of the group gave each other concerned looks, but they followed Zidane down to the portal and through it anyhow. Odette paused before walking through it with Drake, giving him a concerned look. He simply shook his head a little. Now wasn't the time to talk about what the pyreflies had shown them, let alone what it had done to his emotions.

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 **End Notes:** I mentioned a while ago about letting you all know who is on whose team with regards to the Einherjar being able to be summoned. No one asked, but I figure I'll let you all know anyhow.

Drake's team:  
monk - Gala - Legend of Legaia  
thief -Vaan - FF12  
paladin - Cecil - FF4  
dark knight - Zeke - OC  
summoner - Rydia - FF4  
white mage - Penelo - FF12  
red mage - Lyn - OC  
archer - Cid the First - OC  
geomancer - dwarf from Conde Petie - OC. I never gave this poor guy a name, lol  
dancer - Tess - OC  
scholar - Violet - OC  
Dragoon - Jay - OC  
chemist - Key - OC

Edgar's team:  
monk: Josef - FF2  
thief: Edge - FF4  
paladin: Firion - FF2  
dark knight: Ingus - FF3  
summoner: FuSoYa - FF4  
white mage: Minwu - FF2  
red mage: Lulu - FF10  
archer: Irvine - FF8  
geomancer: Cid - FF4, I think  
dancer: Olivia - Fire Emblem: Awakening  
scholar: Edward - FF4  
dragoon: Ricard - FF2  
chemist: Rikku - FF10

Sabin's team:  
monk: Tifa - FF7  
thief: Setzer - FF6  
paladin: Regina - Queen from FF Type-0  
dark knight: Cloud - FF7  
summoner: Galuf - FF4  
white mage: Banon - FF6  
red mage: Tony Redgrave - Devil May Cry  
archer: Bran the Raven - OC  
geomancer: Luca - FF4: After Years  
dancer: Ashelia - FF12  
scholar: Mid - FF5  
dragoon: Kain - FF4  
chemist: Cater - FF Type-0

Vivi's team:  
monk: Ursula - FF4: After Years  
thief: Reddas - FF12  
paladin: Vossler - FF12  
dark knight: Machina - FF Type-0  
summoner: Rem - FF Type-0  
white mage: Porom - FF4  
red mage: Palom - FF4  
archer: Fran - FF12  
geomancer: Refia - FF3  
dancer: Deuce - FF Type-0  
scholar: Larsa - FF12  
dragoon: Basch - FF12  
chemist: Krile - FF5

Dagger's team:  
monk: Yang - FF4  
thief: Yuffie - FF7  
paladin: Ceodore - FF4: After Years  
dark knight: Leon - FF2  
summoner: Yuna - FF10  
white mage: Rosa - FF4  
red mage: Arc - FF3  
archer: Guy the Wild - FF2  
geomancer: Mog - FF6  
dancer: Gordon - FF2  
scholar: Quistis - FF8  
dragoon: Kimarhi - FF10  
chemist: Selphie - FF8


	8. In the Annals of Time

**Author's Notes:** Still feels kind of surreal that I'm done with this story. It's been a project for so long it's almost become a part of the background of my life.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise

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Chapter 8: In the Annals of Time

The first thing that occurred to Drake as the portal dropped him off was that there was a resonance that he could feel through his boots. The air itself was charged with enough mana that he was starting to get a headache from it. When he opened his eyes, the dark film that Zeke was helping him with flickered a little and darkened, protecting his eyes more. He was the only one not squinting until the glow faded a little.

The crystals around them now looked like they had been worked by someone. They stood on a platform that had been shaped and had lines carved in its surface. It caught and directed light in a specific way instead of randomly like the rest of the areas they had walked through so far. Light bounced off of the edges of the platform instead of straight up underneath them, thankfully.

That took a backseat to what was in front of them, though. Kuja hovered in front of a crystal that was at the center of the mana resonance. Lines of light arced from it on occasion. The pedestal under the floating crystal seemed to be both in the process of being created and dissolving because of the sheer pressure of mana pouring over it.

"Nice of you to come." Kuja rotated in place, his hair rippling as it reacted to the pressure coming from the crystal. He had a neutral look on his face, though Drake didn't trust that. His pupils were blown wide enough that Drake wasn't sure he had any irises left, or whether or not he could see out of his eyes anymore. "I'm surprised you were able to beat the four Chaoses that I created from the crystal's memory." A slow grin crossed Kuja's face, making him look even more unhinged. "But you're too late. Take a good look." He gestured widely, one hand thrown back to indicate the crystal behind him.

"Isn't it beautiful? It's the original crystal. This is where it all began... The birthplace of all things." Kuja's grin and eyes grew wider. "Once I destroy it, everything will be gone. Gaia, Terra, Earth, the universe, everything..." Drake tensed at that. After the glimpse of Earth that he'd just gotten, the threat on everything he had known there struck him especially hard. "Your lives and memories, too, of course!" An uncontrollable, hysterical laugh ripped its way out of Kuja's throat.

Odette reached for Drake's hand. He gave her hand a squeeze, but didn't take his eyes off of Kuja. Ahead of them, Zidane growled and dropped into a ready stance, putting his new weapon, the Tower, together in front of him. The others readied their weapons as well.

"Shut up!" Kuja tilted his head to the side slowly, his laughter fading slightly, though he was still grinning widely enough that his rear teeth could be seen. "The only thing that's gonna be gone is you! I'll take you out right now!" Odette released Drake's hand to rest a hand on the hilt of her sword. Drake winced as he felt a pulse through the mana as it reacted to Zidane's anger. Kuja, on the other hand, scoffed, though he looked genuinely amused.

"You honestly think you can defeat me? Even if you do, Gaia's already doomed. Its assimilation by Terra has begun, and the Iifa Tree will incite a cataclysmic destruction of Gaia. Through its connection to Gaia, Earth, too, shall be dragged into destruction, one way or another. It's all over for you and your friends." Drake's mouth turned into a narrow line at that. He had a feeling he knew what sort of effect Gaia's destruction would have on Earth, and it wouldn't be obvious. "See, I win, either way." Zidane spun his swallow blade around to point one end at his brother.

"It doesn't matter! Even if Gaia is assimilated, the planet will remain, and we'll start over to make a new home!" Drake wasn't as sure as Zidane sounded. Even if the planet remained, it might have been wiped back to only plant-life, and they wouldn't be able to life off of just plants. On top of that, they would all be grieving those that hadn't survive. "Kuja, you're nothing but a coward! If you're gonna die, leave us out of it!" Drake lifted his eyes to stare at Kuja, steeling himself to not betray the unease he felt.

"Why should the world exist without me? That wouldn't be fair." Kuja's tone suggested that he truly believed it. It came from him as simply as if he was saying that fire burned or ice was cold. He gestured widely, emoting his disdain for the thought to an unseen audience. "If I die, we all die! Zidane, you will be my first sacrifice." A flick of his tail, and a spell was launched to tip the pedestal under the crystal from its precarious balance between creation and destruction into just destruction.

A roar made all of them look up, and they scattered as a creature that looked like a cross between a bat and a scorpion descended on them. Drake was a little astonished to find that the gravity at the center of the Crystal World was lighter than he had thought, because it didn't take much effort to jump from the crystal they had all been standing on to another, farther from the beast that Kuja had called. Either that, or Jay was giving him some help without being summoned.

He managed to get the farthest from the fight the fastest, though his crystal shifted uncomfortably under him after he landed. He held on to the point of the crystal with one hand as he adjusted to the slowly shifting gravity until his feet stayed attached to the crystal when he let go with his free hand. Only then did he look around to see where the rest of the group was.

Sabin, Edgar, Zidane, Amarant, and Steiner hadn't left the platform before the Crystal, but they had much more room to maneuver now that the rest of the group had evacuated the area. Eiko and Vivi were near each other, Odette and Dagger were on crystals next to each other, and Freya was a few dozen yards in front of Drake, closer to the fight than the rest while not being on the same crystal.

Drake rocked his crystal a little to get it to level out into roughly the same orientation as the main platform, turning to face side-on to the fight. He took a deep breath as Freya jumped into the air to maneuver into position to drop on top of Deathguise, and sighted down the energy-arrow that sprouted between his fingers.

" _Easy, deep breaths, out longer than in._ " Cid the First whispered into his ear, and Drake automatically followed his instructions. His heartrate started to go down, closer to where it normally was, and the slight tremor in his hands faded. " _There you go. Now just sight and release. Don't worry about where you strike, just move._ " Drake tamped down the spike of irritation at the reminder of the basics, but did so anyway.

Drake's arrow lanced through one of Deathguise's wings, not doing much damage, but getting its attention off of the close combat fighters momentarily, just long enough for Edgar to jump up onto its long tail to climb up and ride it like some deranged cowboy. Drake took another deep breath, and watched as Freya landed on Deathguise's back spearpoint first, and grabbed Edgar to jump off before he got whipped by the tail of their enemy. He didn't take kindly to being bundled under someone's arm like a sack of potatoes, but Drake was too far to hear what he was saying.

" _Concentrate. Only note your allies to keep from lodging an arrow in their asses. Watch your target, note its movements. Find a pattern._ " Drake took another deep breath, but instead of letting it out immediately, he held it for a moment before slowly releasing it, sighting down his next arrow as he drew the bowstring back.

His next arrow struck a limb, though it was a glancing blow. He saw spells start to appear around the enemy, and felt a Might spell wash over him, warming his muscles until the slight ache from holding his bowstring was all but gone. He glanced over at Odette to see her flash a brief smile at him. When he glanced back at Deathguise, he saw that he was going to have to move pretty quickly.

Apparently, a single person with a bow struck the enemy as a higher priority target than the cluster of fighters below it. Drake had to evade it by jumping from crystal to crystal, though he did make an effort to go towards the others, not away. There were explosions that told him Odette and Vivi were trying to get the Deathguise from chasing after him.

A spell that couldn't have come from Vivi or Odette destroyed the crystal Drake was about to land on, making him yelp an expletive as he flailed ineffectively. Only a few moments after Drake flew ast where he would have landed, Freya caught him as she jumped past, just barely avoiding Deathguise's maw closing on the two of them.

Deathguise screeched in fury, and as Drake got his feet under him again, flaming stones started to whizz around, destroying more crystals. Drake and Freya split up to get out of the range of devastation and make less of a target of themselves. Drake managed to make it to the main platform and halted there, struggling to catch his breath.

Amarant and Sabin moved in front of Drake to protect him as a barrage of protect and reflect spells wrapped around the lot of them. The mana pressure kept Drake from getting a proper lungful of air, so he took a knee to make himself smaller as he concentrated on his breathing. Deathguise wheeled back to target the clump again, though the ranged group had to shuffle around to avoid attacks of opportunity.

Drake got enough of a breath to stand up and draw his bow again, aiming right for Deathguise as it soared towards them. In front of him, Amarant and Sabin charged up a couple of attacks of theirs as Steiner stepped up to their level with a spell gleaming on his blade. Between the four of them, Deathguise was finished rather quickly. It dissolved into pyreflies, scattering away from the battlefield.

One of them passed through Drake's shoulder, and for a moment he could have sworn he stood in a park he'd visited often on Earth. When he blinked, he was back in the Crystal World. He shook his head a little and looked around.

Kuja looked confused. His arms were crossed in front of him as he floated near the Origin Crystal, watching them. He sneered as he saw that someone was looking at him, and there was a mana spike before he floated down to confront them himself.

"Do you really think you can beat me? I can't believe you beat Deathguise. Well...my time is almost up." Just saying the words made Kuja's face twist in disgust. Even when he grinned again, there was a hint of pain in his face. "Time to die, everyone!"

Drake frowned as the first thing Kuja did was cast Reflect on himself. None of the mages in their group seemed concerned about that, as Reflect spells were cast on the group that stood on the main platform and more spells were bounced off of them. Drake, on the other hand, was feeling a bit lightheaded.

" _You're feeling mana overload. It's not that common a thing, but you should probably do something to get that extra mana out or you're gonna pass out._ " Cecil's voice in the back of Drake's mind got through the brainfog, and he shook his head a little. " _With the amount of mana around, you may be able to summon one of us without using Trance._ " Drake closed his eyes a little so that he could concentrate. It didn't help him much. He had no idea who he had summoned until he felt the weight lift off of him, proving that he had summoned someone.

Penelo stood to his left, casting healing spells through the reflect spells on his allies. Drake blinked a bit at that, but he was already feeling better as Penelo pulled mana from him for her spells. Edgar gave him a worried look, but Drake just smiled at him before pulling his bowstring back. Penelo grinned as she cast a group-wide Might spell before fading in a glimmer of light and a giggle.

"You alright?" Drake nodded to Edgar's question, and released the arrow on his bowstring, and watched as it arced towards Kuja. The energy bolt bounced off of a protect spell that Kuja pulled up, but it drew his attention off of the mixed spell that Odette had just bounced off of Zidane's Reflect spell.

"Yeah, Cecil told me the reason I was feeling off was actually because I had too much mana in me." He snorted and grinned lopsidedly, his eyes still on the fight. "Go figure, I have such a small reservoir that being in a mana-rich environment can overload me." Edgar snorted at that and looked back at the fight. "I may have to summon someone else as well, if the fight goes on long enough."

"Well, so long as I know you aren't about to keel over because of it, it should be fine." Drake shrugged and pulled his bowstring back, his grin fading only a little. "Though to be fair, maybe I should summon as well. My head feels like it's getting sat on."

"Yeah, that sounds like the early stages of the thing I was feeling." Edgar rubbed his knuckles over his nose as Drake loosed another arrow. This time, Kuja didn't notice the arrow coming in and it lodged into his thigh before fizzling out.

"You." Kuja's voice sounded like thunder. Drake grinned at him, a challenge to do his worst. A series of spells zipped towards him, only to be deflected by multiple spells that were erected by a red-clad woman that stood behind Edgar. Drake turned his head to nod to her, and got a nod in return.

"You know, Kuja...you found the wrong Whole Soul for the information you wanted." Drake heard a couple of people take in sharp breaths, but he continued. "This entire time, I've known what you planned. When you summoned a soul from Earth, mine was the one you were looking for." Kuja shrieked with fury, and cast spell after spell at him. They bounced off of the spells that Lulu, and now Odette, were holding up around him.

The adrenaline coursing through him gave him through the barrage kept him from shaking in his boots, though he couldn't say whether or not it was a good thing. It did give the rest of the group the chance to attack Kuja while his attention was on Drake. When Lulu left, Dagger and Eiko took over keeping the protective spells up on Drake.

Finally, the barrage of spells ended, and Drake was able to see Kuja, panting and bleeding, and still glaring daggers at him. Drake tilted his head to the side at him, keeping himself from grinning. He didn't want to antagonize Kuja into making his final spell stronger than it already was going to be, even if he was still riding the adrenaline high.

"Ngh...I'm gonna die anyway..." Drake frowned as he felt Kuja gather up all the spare mana in the air around them, and then add more to it, enough that he could feel the pressure of it in his ears. "I won't have to be afraid anymore, but I'm not gonna die alone." Kuja grinned maniacally, and the world started to burn. "You're all coming with me!" The spell snapped into place, but it wasn't centered on them.

"No!" The Ultima spell that Kuja had woven so quickly bore down on the Origin Crystal. Drake lunged forwards as if he could physically stop the spell from striking. He wasn't the only one, either, but the outer edges of the spell swept over them, turning everything to flames.

Drake groaned as he came to, and opened his eyes to see scorched black stone beneath his face. He grimaced and closed his eyes again, feeling what promised to be a truly horrifying migraine pound behind his eyeballs. All around him he could hear groans, and distant screams. Had he not been in so much pain, he might have thought that he was in whatever passed for hell on Gaia. Besides, as a Chosen, he wasn't destined to end up in such a place.

Zidane groaned somewhere to Drake's right, and the archer pried one eye open to turn his head in that direction. Somehow, his blood brother had mustered the strength to get up, though he was resting his weight on only one leg.

"What happened to the crystal...?" Drake moved his mouth to speak, but all he managed to do was cough. His throat burned with the telltale tingle that suggested he'd been burned not only across most of his body, but inside of it, too. "Where is this?" Drake swallowed a couple of times, and tasted copper.

" _You stand before the final dimension, and I am the darkness of eternity..._ " The booming voice that invaded Drake's throbbing skull wasn't that of an Einherjar nor that of a Constellato. There was an echo of the distant screams in the voice that only added to Drake's migraine.

"Wh-who are you!?" Zidane seemed to have managed to get some of his energy back. A shaky breath managed to get Drake's skull back from feeling like it was about to split open, and he reached up to his eyes to cover them from the somewhat dim light.

"I think...that's Death," Odette croaked from somewhere. Drake grimaced and reached out with his mind for his awareness of the Einherjar, even though it made his headache significantly worse. "Kuja attacked the crystal. That would...effectively summon the entity known as Death."

" _The Constellato are holding the Crystal intact through sheer force of will,_ " Rydia whispered to Drake, thoughtfully keeping her voice low to keep from making his headache worse. " _The destruction hasn't gotten very far. You're all on the verge of dying, though. Be careful._ " Drake couldn't help but groan at that last comment. Zidane limped past Drake, and the archer took a deep breath in.

" _You must fight Death. We will help._ " That was a Einherjar that Drake didn't recognize, which meant it was probably one of the many archers. " _Where you are, at the crossroads between life and death, we can be as well. After all, we have lingered there since our own deaths, so as to not be reborn, and remain the warriors Gaia needs for this exact moment._ " Drake blinked at that. " _I am the first Chosen of Sagittarius. I have spent an eternity learning from those that came after me. You need only worry about those in your own group._ "

"What the heck are you talking about?" While Drake had been listening to the Einherjar, Zidane must have been listening to Death. "Why are you telling me all this?" Drake felt a weight on his head, almost like something was pushing on just his brain, not his skull. "Wh-what do you mean by that!?" Drake blinked, and realized that he was no longer hearing Death. Was it because he was a Chosen Or because there had been someone else speaking to him?

He pushed himself up into a sitting position on his knees, one hand pressing to his skull as the change in altitude increase the pain of his headache. The regen spell was working slowly, but it was easing all his aches in increments, which meant it wasn't doing much for his head yet. Odette was slowly starting to get up as well, and offered him a small smile. She had blood leaking from her nose, and a cut somewhere under her hairline that was still bleeding sluggishly.

" _I exist for one purpose...to return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life, and no crystal to give life._ " Drake blinked as Death's voice came back, and he slowly tilted his head back to look up. Above them was what looked like a floorless coliseum. He squinted, and though it made his head throb, was able to focus his eyes to see farther, and noted that in the halls of the coliseum were statues of what looked like warriors of thirteen different classes. " _In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life desires._ " Drake shook his head and groped around with his free hand until he found his bow, and used it to help him get to his feet.

"That's...not true." His voice sounded like he'd been gargling sharp rocks. He felt that the Einherjar were not with him, and no longer blocking him from hearing Death's voice. "You can't claim that you know what all life wants from the desires of one." He leaned more weight than he'd like on his bow, and felt it humming in his hand.

"You're not ending anything! Never, not as long as we have the will to live!" Zidane had more energy than Drake or Odette did. Odette limped to Drake's side and rested her hand on his arm. He offered her a small smile, and winced as it cracked open a cut in his lip he hadn't been aware of.

" _Foolish creatures. You have already deluded yourselves. One day, you will choose destruction over existence, as Kuja did._ " Drake shook his head, wincing as his muscles protested that movement. " _When he sought to destroy the crystal, the purpose of life ended. Now, come, enter the zero world that you desire._ " Drake forced himself to straighten, and felt a couple of clicks in his spine before the ache faded.

"Life as a whole does not have a single purpose. It is the duty of every living thing to learn what their own purpose is." A heal spell washed over him, and he felt his muscles loosen. He nodded his thanks to Odette, who smiled weakly at him before looking around. Drake could feel her waver a little, so he moved his arm to wrap around her waist. "People tend to be either creators or destroyers. The one you have decided to judge all life off of was a destroyer." Drake paused to catch his breath, and smiled a little at Zidane, who had finally turned to look back at him. "Though at times, even creators must destroy to protect that which they have made." Zidane nodded and tilted his head back to look up at the sky.

"We'll destroy you, and prove you wrong! Through our memories, future generations will see that we can overcome any fear!" Drake heard the others starting to stir, and looked to his left, where Sabin was struggling to push himself up onto his elbows.

"...We can't...give up now." That was Dagger, trying to push herself up. Zidane wobbled and landed on his hands and knees. Drake and Odette separated, Drake to crouch next to Zidane and make sure he was alright, and Odette moving to Dagger's side.

"We have to fight together," Zidane muttered, just loud enough for Drake to hear. "Even if we lose, it doesn't matter... Our memories will live on inside of others." Drake frowned little at that, but didn't argue with his blood brother. "So, even if we are born to die, I'm not afraid." Drake offered Zidane a hand up.

"We're gonna live," Drake told him, and got a smile in return. "Life's worth is found in the space between birth and death, and the impact we have on others." Drake tilted his head to the side a little as he felt a buzzing in his head that felt like a Constellato. It blocked out any response Death had to his words.

" _Those that cannot fight, we will bring to safety. We have the power to do that while keeping the crystal from collapsing, at least. But we cannot fight off Death at the same time._ " Zidane jumped, and Drake blinked. The Constellato were speaking to more than just him, for once.

"I honestly have no idea if I can or not," Zidane muttered, leaning on Drake. "I feel like I'm constantly about to pass out." Drake frowned a little at that, and glanced over at Odette. The two of them seemed to be the most energetic of the rest.

"I think...that might be because you aren't a Whole Soul," he finally said hesitantly. "Odette and I are largely fine. But we can't fight Death on our own." Odette nodded to that, and Drake turned his head to the coliseum above them.

" _We can allow members of your party to lend their soul to another for a time._ " That sounded like Leviathan. The other that had spoken sounded like one of the moogles that Eiko had been raised by. If he remembered right, there had been a Constellato amongst them. " _Once the battle is over, you all shall go back to how you were. It is best to match by skills, or friendships._ " Odette was going around, helping everyone to at least sit up.

"Amarant." Drake blinked at Sabin, who was resting his forearms on his knees, hands shaking. "You'd best protect my brother." Drake frowned at that while Amarant stared at Sabin before slowly nodding. Sabin nodded back, and light swirled around him before separating into two orbs. One zipped over to Amarant, sinking into his chest, and the other shot up into the sky before disappearing in the distance.

Almost immediately, Amarant's shakes stopped, and he was able to pull himself to his feet without help. He flexed his hands before nodding and moving to the edge of the group. Edgar laughed a little at that, and held a hand up. Drake helped him to his feet, catching him when he stumbled.

"You know, There's times where I'm glad the Contellato decided you couldn't be a Chosen, Zidane." Both Zidane and Drake frowned at that, but Edgar had more of a self-deprecating smile on his face than a taunting one. "You've got more natural skill as a thief than I do. We don't always get along, but I think it's time I set my jealousy aside." Zidane got an understanding look on his face and nodded as Edgar gently pushed off of Drake.

With the Constellato's help, Edgar's soul entered Zidane, and Zidane straightened. Drake frowned as he watched the other orb follow Sabin's into the dark sky above. Near Odette, Eiko split into two orbs, one of which entered Dagger's chest to stabilize her. Steiner and Vivi were talking, and Quina and Freya were as well, likely debating which would stay to fight. Finally, Vivi and Freya got up, the orbs that carried Steiner and Quina fading into the sky.

The chunk of rock that they were standing on shuddered and slowly rose into the sky, ascending towards the coliseum that had been visible from below. As they rose, power flooded into them, pulling them into Trance without them even having to concentrate on it.

The Chosen armor felt natural to Drake now, a crosswind tugging at his hipcape and hair. He lifted a hand to curl it around the wolf's teeth necklace that sat over his chest armor now. He smiled a little as he remembered the good luck ritual that had accompanied the gift from his mother. He hadn't ever seen her genuinely possessed by the Huntress before that point, but he had a feeling that Lady Maria had had her eye on him from the time of his childhood.

Vivi looked uncertain, but he had a dark blue tint to his clothing that hadn't been there before. Yellow shimmered over Zidane's form, though Drake thought idly that he could have afforded to have at least a loincloth, never mind that his body fur covered everything without anything showing. Orange shimmered over Freya as she adjusted her grip on her spear, looking upwards with a frown on her face. The white and teal garb that Dagger wore looked comfortable, at least, though the horned headband she wore looked like it was about to slip.

Colors of every shade of the rainbow bloomed around the coliseum as their rock arrived within its bounds. Drake smiled as he saw that the statues he' seen earlier came to life, each gaining the characteristics of an individual Einherjar. Archers strung their bows or checked their quivers, mages glanced around to see which physical fighter was nearby, dancers started to cast their buffs on those within range of them, and chemists began assessing what they had to combine on them.

Their foe slowly lowered from an indiscernible point in the sky, blue and white flesh. Drake thought for a moment if the scent of decay followed Death, but decided that it was better not to think on it. The color scheme was the only thing that matched the appearance of Necron in the game. Wings shedding their feathers spread, blocking the view of a fair amount of the coliseum as the gaunt figure of Death tilted its skull at them. Flesh was peeling away from the skull, revealing its eternally grinning visage.

"So, this is Death?" Odette sounded remarkably calm as she joined Amarant towards the front of their group, settling her crystal swords in her grip. "Strange, I was expecting something that looked like the grim reaper." Drake couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. Immediately, he felt the muscles of his back loosen as he turned side-on to the fight. Death wore a robe of tattered grey rags, which was significantly less threatening than a pitch black robe with a hood. The thin section between the bottom of the rib cage and the pelvic bone looked ridiculous, for sure.

"Pastel phase, maybe?" Odette snorted at Drake's suggestion, and the rest of their group gave the two of them odd looks. Drake just grinned. "We're not alone in this fight, though I doubt it'll be easy anyhow." Drake directed everyone's attention to the walls of the coliseum. Zidane blinked at the Einherjar that waved at him, grinning, but shook his head a little and returned his attention to Death as a spell started to form before the genderless entity.

A Holy spell shot down from somewhere in the coliseum and that seemed to open the floodgates. Einherjar from all across the ages launched their attacks, briefly confusing Death. Drake took a deep breath in and concentrated on imbuing his arrow with the essence of fire before releasing the string. Dagger seemed to think better of summoning an eidolon to battle with Death, and opted to cast Holy at Death as well. Vivi and Odette threw spell after spell at Death, trying to figure out what element would do the most damage.

Instead of lashing out immediately, Death cast a Shell spell on themself, blocking the majority of the spells that they were getting attacked by. It didn't do anything to stop the barrage of arrows from all the archers, though. For once, Drake felt less like he was a target and just one face in a crowd, likely because the majority of warriors in this battle were Chosen.

It didn't take long before there was a devastating magical attack that sent all of them to their knees. Odette looked frustrated once they were able to get back up to their feet, and Drake blinked as he realized that she'd been Silenced. Drake found a potion made of echo herbs in his pouch and handed it to her.

On his other side, Freya was shoving a gyshal green in Amarant's face. The scent was enough to snap anyone out of just about anything, even a blood rage like it looked like Amarant had been about to enter. Zidane and Dagger both ended up needing echo herbs as well, on Odette's other side.

"Not a fight where we can just go all out without thinking," Drake commented drily. "Someone mind being on item duty?" Drake pulled his bowstring back and tried a Thunder arrow to see how that would work on Death.

"I might as well," Zidane offered, sounding a bit disgruntled. "I'm the only one who can't reach. Even Amarant has attacks that can reach far enough." Drake shrugged and unbuckled the belt that held his belt pouch, offering it to his brother. Zidane didn't seem to have any obvious pouches anymore, after all.

It was impossible to tell just how long the battle lasted. No one's Trance wore out, and the only sign that time was passing was how many potions and ethers they used. The regen spell was barely able to keep up with just the ache that began to build up in their muscles. Drake paused a bit to rub his arm after a while, scowling up at Death.

The battle took more of a visible toll on Death than it did on any of the other combatants. The robe that Death had started out with was now more tattered strands than it was clothing. More flesh had been ripped from bone, and there were fractures in many of the bones that were now showing. Someone among the Einherjar had come up with the idea of attacking by sections, so there was a constant barrage now that seemed to be moving like a spiral. Not a single attack even came close to hitting any of the six just out of physical combat range of Death.

One of Death's wings fractured enough to fall do the ground far below, and Drake's eyes lit up. It was the first sign that they were actually nearing their goal of driving Death away. Zidane nudged Drake's elbow with something, and the archer turned to look before lifting an eyebrow and taking the canteen of cold tea. The tea was stronger than Drake would have liked, but it slaked the thirst he'd barely been aware of. There were many other things on his mind, after all.

" _Why defy your fate?_ " Drake blinked at the first that Death had said since the beginning of the battle, however long ago that had been. Something seemed to click into place around them, and Drake frowned.

" _The crystal is healed. Warriors of Gaia, we thank you for combating this foe that all mortals must eventually fall to. We, the Constellato, will drive Death from the Crystal._ " Light bloomed around Drake, and he sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling the teleportation spell grab hold of him.

Exhaustion hit him as a wind greeted his arrival back on Gaia, tugging his hood off of his head. He fell to his knees, and blinked at his hands as they kept him from landing on his face. His Trance had worn off, finally, which left him lacking most of his energy. He pushed himself back to sit on his heels as he looked around, and blinked as he saw that the rest of their group lay unconscious nearby.

Odette was the next to appear, and she failed to catch herself. Drake reached over and gently rolled her over so she wasn't on her face anymore. Freya appeared in short order, and an orb of light emerged from her chest to sink into Quina's, after which the Qu started to stir. By the time Odette was sitting up, Vivi, Dagger, Amarant, and Zidane had arrived, and Quina, at least, was sitting up.

"Holy shit, that was..." Edgar sounded somewhat dazed as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked around. "Oh, we're by the Iifa Tree?" Drake turned his head to look, and blinked as he slowly stood, using his bow to help him get to his feet. He was pretty sure that he was going to end up with bruises all over.

Drake flinched away just as a light came from the top of the Iifa Tree. Everyone who saw his reaction covered their eyes in time for all of them to avoid getting blinded by the explosion. Drake took a couple of steps back as the shockwave hit them, and grimaced as his ears rang from the sound. When he looked back at the Iifa Tree, he swallowed hard.

"I get the feeling this is no longer a safe area," he said carefully. The roots of the Iifa Tree were ripping out of the ground, making it tremble underfoot enough that he stumbled every few seconds. From where they were to the horizon beyond the Iifa Tree, there was nothing but destruction.

"So, what Kuja said was true...The Iifa Tree is beginning its violent reaction." That was Zidane, leaning on one of the spires of rock that Drake had climbed what felt like an eternity ago, back when they first had come to the Iifa Tree. The sound of an airship engine overhead made Drake look up, and he sighed, seeing the Red Rose going overhead.

Ignoring what the rest of the group was saying, Drake pulled back his bowstring and concentrated on working a type of magic he'd never used before into the arrowhead. When he released it, it turned into an orb of light that hovered in the air above them for a while. He sighed with relief as he saw one of the ships in the sky move towards their location. It took until a ladder was dropped for them to climb up for him to recognize it as the Hilda Garde, or one of its incarnations.

Drake watched as Eiko and Vivi climbed up first, Sabin and Amarant behind them to make sure that they didn't fall. The ground was shaking far too much for the ship to come level with the cliff they were all standing on, and the roots of the Iifa Tree were near enough that trying it was more akin to suicide than rescue.

"The Hilda Garde 3? Looks like Regent Cid came to rescue us." Drake looked over his left shoulder to see Zidane there, smutched with dirt and looking just as tired as Drake felt. "When'd you learn how to signal like that?" Drake shrugged and rubbed his arms. He wasn't looking forwards to climbing.

"The second I tried it. I'm guessing the Einherjar are just as tired as we are, I did it pretty much by myself." Zidane shrugged, then pulled Drake's belt and belt pouch off of him to hand it back to Drake. "Ah, thanks." It took a bit of doing to sling the belt back around his hips while still keeping hold of his bow, but he managed it somehow.

"Hurry up, the ground you're on is starting to crumble!" That shout was Regent Cid himself, leaning over the railing to shout down at them. Freya paused to consider, and then crouched, just jumping up to the deck of the airship as Steiner started to climb up the ladder. Quina seemed to be complaining to his/herself, and Odette was already most of the way up the ladder, with Edgar above her. Zidane started forwards, only to halt with a jerk as he looked around.

"Zidane?" That was Dagger, holding her hair back with one hand to squint against the wind towards Zidane. Drake had a feeling he knew what had just happened, and tugged his hood up to block the wind from his face.

"Ah, dammit." Drake tilted his head to the side and glanced at the edge of the cliff as a considerably large chunk of it broke free and fell with a sound almost like a growl. Zidane sighed and turned his head to look towards the Iifa Tree. "Why don't you two go on ahead? I'll catch up with you all later." Drake propped one hand on his hip as Zidane continued. "I have to take care of something..." Dagger looked confused and alarmed, but Drake shook his head with a small smile.

"You just heard Kuja, didn't you." Zidane blinked at Drake before rolling his eyes and nodding. "Right. Promise you'll come back alive." Zidane grimaced at that as Dagger looked between Drake and the man that she'd at least grown very fond of.

"Take care of Dagger for me. Kuja's still alive, I can't...I can't just leave him. I know...just because I came from the same planet as him, that's no reason to feel attached, but..." Zidane grimaced, his eyes on the Iifa Tree. "I might've done the same thing as him if I were in his shoes." Drake shrugged a little and glanced at Dagger, who still looked confused.

"Go on, Dagger, I'll follow." Drake turned his eyes back to Zidane. "I'll keep her safe. I know you well enough to tell when your morals are insisting you do something. And...I'm of the opinion that no one deserves to die alone." Zidane nodded.

"You and Vivi...and the rest of the group. You've all taught me how to take life more seriously. I'll definitely be coming back." Zidane offered Drake his hand, the one that held the scar that marked them as blood brothers. Drake sighed and clasped it tightly, conveying his concern in a way that words could never do.

"I'll keep the others from trying to come after you." Drake smirked a little. "This is your moment. The rest of us will have our own someday." Zidane laughed at that, Drake knew that was the gist of what Zidane had been about to say. "We'll get Burmecia, Lindblum, and Alexandria back on their feet before you get back, I just know it." Zidane shook his head with another laugh and let go, turning to look at the Iifa Tree as Drake moved to the ladder. Dagger was still standing where she had been before, a troubled look on her face. Drake stood by the ladder, looking up at the ship as the two of them had their moment.

"Dagger - I mean, Your Highness...The abduction is over. I can't take you any further. I'm...sorry for being so selfish." Drake glanced over his shoulder for a moment. Had he known better, he'd have thought that Zidane was proposing to Dagger because of how he was on one knee and holding her hands.

"No...You're not being selfish. You've done so much for us. If it weren't for you, I probably would've led a meaningless life. With you, I was able to see so much of the world and meet so many people. We faced many hardships, too, but...I think I finally know what's important. I'm so fortunate to have met you. I'll never forget our trip together. Thank you, Zidane." There was a pause, and Drake glanced back. Dagger was facing away from Zidane, blinking hard. "Promise me one thing...Please come back."

"I will." Drake had a feeling that Zidane and Dagger's promise meant something drastically different from the promise that Zidane had made to Drake, but he didn't say anything as he waited for Dagger to start climbing the ladder. He shoved the end of his bow into his belt so that he could climb with both hands, though it was a hard climb, with his muscles feeling so weak.

"Drake? Isn't Zidane coming?" Sabin helped Drake haul himself over the railing at the top, and Edgar helped after a couple of seconds. Drake let them help, his arms feeling like an overcooked noodle. One of the deckhands took his bow from him, and Drake leaned on the railing to look down.

"No, he's got something he needs to do. I made him promise that he'll come back to us alive, though." There was a yelp from Freya, and Drake's hand shot out to grab hold of her wrist as she came to the railing in preparation to jump over. "He has to do it alone. This is one of the last things from the story. He _will_ come back, but I can't guarantee that anyone else that goes with him would. Or that he would if anyone else goes with him." Freya frowned at that, but forced herself to relax as she looked over the railing.

As the Hilda Garde 3 lifted up from the altitude it had been hovering at to pick up the warriors, Drake watched Zidane pick his way down the cliff face to the thrashing Iifa Tree roots. Eiko leaned over the railing to shout down at him.

"Zidane, I love you! You'd better come back!" Drake couldn't help but laugh a little at her words. Dagger looked pale, her lips pressed together so tightly they were white. When Zidane turned back to look, one hand shading his eyes, Dagger forced herself to smile and wave to him, while Edgar leaned on the railing next to him.

"If you don't come back alive, I'll marry Dagger instead of you," Ed bellowed. Drake and Sabin laughed, and Zidane made a rude gesture that was clear enough to see across the distance. An Iifa Tree root crashed into the rocks next to Zidane, and Drake stiffened until he saw his blood brother racing across the root towards the Iifa Tree, faster than Drake had ever seen him move before.

Someone tapped Drake's arm with something, and he turned. A deckhand with her arms full of canteens was offering him one. As he gulped the liquid inside of it, he sighed with relief. It was sweet, clear, clean water, just what he needed for his dusty throat. He was suddenly having a hard time remembering when he'd had anything to drink besides tea.

"So now what?" Drake pushed away from the railing with one last glance. Zidane was out of sight now, probably still somewhere in the root system, but Drake was sure that he was just fine. Regent Cid was barking orders to the deck crew in person, holding a handkerchief to his mouth and nose to keep the dust out.

"Now, we go home and recuperate. Odette and I have a wedding to plan, and Lindblum, Alexandria, and Burmecia still need to be rebuilt. We all have lives to live." Drake yawned and then coughed, covering his mouth with the crook of his elbow. "It'll take a while for Zidane to make it back, but he will." He was a little iffy on exactly how long it would take.

"Right. Think you could drop me'n Edgar off at our village? Home sounds pretty damn nice right about now." Sabin coughed a little as he turned to the regent, heading towards the door to the hold. The regent blinked at him and then looked over the warriors.

"I suppose so. Of course, you're all welcome to stay in Lindlbum for as long as you'd like, but if you wish to recuperate elsewhere, we're able to drop you off." Odette sidled up next to Drake, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning his head against her.

"Lindblum sounds okay for us," she murmured, and Drake hummed agreement, his eyes on the scenery as it passed by. "Once we're recovered, though, we should go to Treno, and get things into order there." She sighed, sounding tired. "Though I bet the noblewomen there are going to be very disappointed to hear that you're engaged." Drake smirked and lifted his head to plant a kiss on her cheek.

"They'll just have to learn how to live with that disappointment. There's not a person alive that could tempt me away from you. Come on, let's go get some rest. I'm starting to feel like one big bruise." Odette giggled a little at him and walked with him into the hold.

Drake bunked with his blood brothers, like he had on the Blue Narcissus, but by the time he got there, Sabin was already snoring. Edgar was sitting on his bunk, his eyes closed, but smiled at Drake when he came in and flopped on his own bunk.

"I'm willing on betting that that last battle either won't end up in any of the legends about this journey of ours, or generations on down the line, scholars will refuse to believe that it actually happened." Drake snorted at Edgar's words, and sat up again to take off his armor. His range of motion was nowhere near where it was supposed to be, and Ed ended up helping him take off some of the pieces.

"Probably. So long as they don't absolutely butcher our personalities, I'm fine with it." Ed snorted at that as Drake turned to help him out of his armor. Sabin had fallen asleep in his, and was bound to be even more sore when he woke up. "Maybe one of us should write it down, you know, for posterity." Ed sighed as he cracked his neck and kicked the last piece of armor away from him.

"Probably someone who's been around the entire time. Which leaves...Hm. Either Vivi, Steiner, Dagger, or Zidane. Or you, but you were tightmouthed about anything pertaining to the future for pretty much the entire time, apparently." Ed yawned, and shifted on his bed until he was comfortable. Drake flopped on his bed again and stretched slowly.

"We'll have to talk about it when we're all feeling better," Drake murmured, closing his eyes. If Ed said anything else, he missed it as he fell asleep almost immediately. He drifted for a while, until the sounds of birds chirping drew him to open his eyes.

He lay in a field of grass, watching as clouds drifted by overhead for a while. The purr of some sort of engine droned on, accompanied by the scent of cut grass, and a distant, intermittent rumble. Drake sat up after a moment, frowning, and looked around.

The grass he was sitting in seemed to be floating in a sea of grey nothingness, but he wasn't the only one there. A middle-aged woman sat with her back to him, humming an out of tune lullaby to herself. Drake stared at her back for a moment, resting his weight on his hands before sitting forwards properly and looking down at himself. He still wore what he'd gone to sleep wearing, still covered in dust, and bruises were starting to bloom under his skin. He looked back at the woman again.

"Mom?" His voice cracked a little and he grimaced. It hadn't been emotion that cracked it, just thirst. The woman jerked a little at his voice and turned, her eyes wide. Drake smiled a little at her. Sure enough, it was his mother. To be specific, the version of her from Earth. "You don't look like you've been doing too well - ack!" He winced as he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug. "Ow, mind my bruises, please."

"I knew I saw you." Drake blinked at that and rubbed his mother's back. "I was waiting for a ride to Goodwill with some of your old things, and, and, just for a second..." She sounded like she was starting to cry. "God, Kole, I've missed you so much." Drake sighed a little and hugged her back.

"I've missed you, too. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm actually doing well." His mother pulled back to stare at him, and he smiled lopsidedly. His lip ached where it had broken open earlier, but didn't crack again. "I've got a long story to tell you. I don't think I can stay, though." His mother backed away a little and looked over him carefully, taking his hands in hers.

"I'll listen, for as long as it takes. Even if I can't take you back with me, I've been wishing to see you again." She lifted one hand to cup his cheek and brushed some of the dust away. "You've grown." Drake smiled a little.

"I've grown a lot. Okay, so, to start the story off, Earth is connected to another world, called Gaia. Not physically, but the spirits of the people on both worlds can migrate. Well, now they can, they couldn't for a while because of..." He sighed. "That's part of the story. There was someone on Gaia who wanted to pull someone from Earth. In order to do so, he killed many people on Gaia. He was only trying to get one, but ended up getting two..."

~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~

 **End Notes** : And all that's left now is to get the epilogue up! That last scene was something that I'd been playing with for a while. I almost didn't put it in, but... It's a nice bit of closure. I figure it was a 'present' from one of the Constellato that figured that Drake had more than earned a chance to talk to his mom on Earth, even if it was the very last time.


	9. Towards the Future

**Author's Notes:** Wow, it feels pretty surreal to be uploading the epilogue of this story. It make take me a while to get around to editing the earlier chapters, but I do intend to do so. In the meantime, let's wrap this up!

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 **Epilogue: Towards the Future**

"Aiden! Aiden! Blank, have you seen my son anywhere?" Blank leaned around the doorframe to look at Drake as he paused in his search and shook his head. "Dammit. An airship's no place for a four year old to go missing." Drake ran his fingers through his hair and waved the other hand at Blank. "Thanks anyhow." Blank gave him a thumbs-up before going back to whatever task had been interrupted.

Drake climbed the spiral stairs up to the bridge, adjusting the torc he wore around his neck to sit a little more comfortably without really thinking about it. He trotted up the stairs at a swift clip, looking around in case he spotted a little dark-haired boy hiding in some niche.

"Hey Baku, have you seen - there you are, Aiden!" Baku froze as Drake came in, and the little boy sitting on his knee as he steered the ship whined at him. "What have I told you about wandering off?" The four-year-old pouted at Drake, but slid off of Baku's knee as Drake gestured for him. "Thanks for entertaining him, Baku. Come on, Aiden, the ship's about to dock. Let's go watch that." That seemed to cheer the boy up.

Baku chuckled as Drake and his son left, turning his attention to steering the Prima Vista 2 to where it would dock. He doubted he was going to get used to seeing Drake as a father anytime soon, let alone one as well-dressed as he was. Though Drake and Odette were expecting another child in a few months, so he was going to have to get used to it at some point.

Aiden was almost impossible for Drake to keep hold of as they watched the ship dock. Odette and Acacia came on deck once they were docked, and Drake gratefully handed his son over to Acacia, who had proved to be an excellent nursemaid. Odette giggled as she leaned over to give Drake a kiss over her swollen belly as the Nero brothers carried their luggage off the Prima Vista to hand it over to some servants of Alexandria Castle.

"Well, at least Aiden managed to get some of his wiggles out before we docked. I told Acacia to take him to the castle gardens until the play's about to start, so he should be out of our hair for the time being. Want to walk around the castle?" Drake linked his fingers with hers, smiling fondly at her.

"Sure. Maybe we'll bump into the others. I know Sab and Ed have been in town for a while on diplomatic business, but surely they wouldn't have meetings on the queen's birthday." Odette laughed a little at that and led the way down the gangplank. They managed to get through the nobles waiting there to greet them and found their way to the river.

Drake halted as he spotted a boat crossing the river carrying a familiar face or two, and waved to them. Freya waved back, her other hand linked with Sir Fratley's. Drake couldn't help but smile at that, glad that their relationship was going well once more. Though Freya had mentioned in her last letter to Drake that her love still hadn't regained his memories.

"Drake! You look well. Hello, Odette." Freya was all smiles as she climbed out of the boat. Odette nodded in greeting, smiling, and Drake and Freya hugged briefly. "Where's the youngster?" Drake couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Acacia's minding him. How goes the reconstruction?" He nodded to Sir Fratley and got a nod in response before the four of them started to walk along the river. "Is that...? Are those Vivi's sons?" There was a gaggle of black mages on the other bank starting to get into another ferry to cross the river. In the game, Drake was sure that they had all looked like Vivi, but even from this distance, he could tell the difference between them.

"Mm? Ah, yes, they are. I've yet to get a clear answer from any of them how the black mages figured out how to repopulate." Drake scratched the back of his head with a small chuckle. Odette's eyes were wide as she looked over them, a hand covering her mouth.

"There's so many! Didn't Vivi's last letter say that one of his sons was Chosen? I think it was the one that was helping him write it." Drake nodded his head at that and watched as the poor soldier in charge of the ferry tried to get all the mages to sit still.

"I think it might be the one with the purple ribbon. See how the rest are listening to him?" One of the mages noticed them, and started to wave, which started the rest being hyperactive again. "Oh dear. I hope none of them fall in the river." He waved, smiling a little, though his eyes were sad. "I do wish Vivi could have hung on until Zidane came back, though." Odette hugged him briefly.

"While I'm glad he was able to increase the lifespan of the black mages, it is a very sad thing that it was at the expense of his own life," she said softly. Drake tilted his head against hers before turning at the sound of boots behind them. "Eh? Doctor Tot!" The scholar smiled at them, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

"Drake, Odette, Freya, Fratley, it's wonderful to see all of you again. Oh, Amarant said that he would be arriving sometime before the play." Drake nodded at that, smiling a little. "He is rather diligent in his duties, I must say. I heard some of the soldiers that knew him before he was declared an outlaw say that he's almost unrecognizable." Drake snorted at that.

"They must not have known him very well, then," he said, and turned to wave at the black mages as they finally got ashore. "Careful, don't fall in the water," he called out. Each of them had taken a different color as their motif, so it was rather easy to tell them apart. "Corcra, how was the journey? It looks like you all made it without too much trouble." Corcra, named for his purple hat ribbon, sighed a little.

"You were right, it's kind of like herding cats." Drake laughed at that, and eyed the rest of the mages as they scattered to explore. "Where's Aiden?" Though the mages were about the same age as Drake's son, most of the mages were mature enough to think and act more like adults, even if they were about the same size as Aiden.

"Exploring the garden with Acacia. Eiko should be here soon, too. She'll love to meet all of you, I'm sure." Drake didn't bother hiding a smile as Corcra's eyes lit up. He'd been exchanging letters with Eiko for years now, though what they talked about, Drake had no idea. He hadn't ever thought about prying, either.

"I'll go wait by the airship docks, then!" The four adults chuckled as Corcra went charging off, and returned to their walk. Drake ran his fingers through his hair as he walked, enjoying the wind. The sound of another airship going by overhead made him look up, and he smiled. The Hilda Garde 6 was a sleeker craft than any of the other ones that Drake had seen by far. He had a feeling that at least some of the technology had been inspired by the letters that the regent and Edgar had sent each other over the years.

"It's going to be nice to have the whole group together again," Freya said quietly. "It's been hard to keep that secret, that's for sure." Drake's smile grew at the mention of what he had shared with Freya the evening of Queen Garnet's coronation. "I heard that Quina was going to volunteer to cook tonight's feast. Or at least, direct the cooks." Drake chuckled a bit at that.

"Yeah. I'm looking forwards to it. Apparently Quina's put their all into their studies. I've heard their name mentioned a few times as the best chef on the continent." Odette nodded, and nudged Drake. "Mm?"

"Maybe we should go indoors. I need to sit for a while." Her free hand rested on her belly, and Drake nodded, smiling apologetically at her. The four of them walked through the front gate of the castle, and were directed towards a sitting room that was already stocked with tea and some snacks, and looked out onto the garden that Aiden was playing in. Some of the black mages had found their way there, and were playing gently with the boy.

Eiko bounced in after a while, followed by Corcra and Amarant, who nodded to Drake when he waved to him. Lani seemed a little awkward, but relaxed after Drake smiled at her. Drake had gotten used to the fact that she and Amarant had been an item for years, even if it did still strike him as a little odd.

Finally, a servant arrived and announced that they ought to take their seats for the play. Drake helped Odette to her feet as Amarant went to fetch Acacia and Aiden from the garden for him, and their group went to the balcony overlooking the lake where the Prima Vista was docked.

Sabin got up to greet them as they reached the front row, the torc around his neck still gleaming with its newness. Aoife, his wife, was rather distracted, watching the people on the rooftops that hadn't been able to get tickets to the play. Drake hugged first one and then the other, once his cousin had realized that he was there, and Sabin bent to talk to Aiden.

"So've you been behavin' yourself?" Aiden nodded a couple of times before reaching up to Sabin. The monk laughed a little and obliged the boy, scooping him up to rest him on his hip. "Ed's sittin' up with Queen Garnet an' the regent," Sabin informed Drake, jerking his head towards the balcony.

"I figured he would be. Has he still been flirtin' at her?" Sab rolled his eyes on that, and Drake chuckled. "Ah, he'll have to figure it out eventually. He's just not the sort for her. Quina, hello!" The Qu was covered in flour, but wasn't shy about hugging anyone, though s/he was careful of his/her tongue for once.

Drake saw Marcus peeking out of the background of the stage and gave him a small wave with a smile before looking at the others. Eiko, eleven now, and adopted by Regent Cid and his wife, was listening to some of Corcra's brothers chatter amongst themselves. Aiden was talking to Sir Fratley, still sitting on Sabin's lap with a hand fisted in his favorite uncle's tunic. The burmecian didn't seem to mind entertaining a four year old, though he and Freya had often visited when Drake and Odette were spending time in Treno.

"I think they're planning on starting the play soon," Drake commented, and the others started to sit in their seats, even if they didn't stop chatting with each other. Drake turned to look up at the balcony, and smiled a little as he saw Edgar looking down at them. He waved, seeing that Drake had noticed him, and Drake waved back, chuckling a little to himself. For all he'd spent a great deal of time putting on regal airs, Edgar actually preferred to spend time with his brothers. Being a king meant he tended to be separated by duty.

Sabin sat next to Drake, with Acacia in the row behind them to keep an eye on Aiden. The boy was now telling Sabin all about the trip on the airship, eyes aglow. Sabin, for his part, was listening rather intently to him, chuckling at his impressions of the Tantalus troupe. Baku finally stepped out onto the stage, and Drake had to cover a snort at his costume. It was more gaudy than the one Baku had worn to that first play, years ago.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo. Tonight's story begins when Marcus and Cornelia decide to run away together. And now, Your Royal Majesties, Queen Garnet of Alexandria, King Edgar of Figaro, Her Highness Princess Eiko of Lindblum, noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents, 'I Want to Be Your Canary'!" Odette tilted her head towards Drake, and he inclined his towards her to catch her whisper.

"That's his normal voice, isn't it?" Drake grinned and nodded, pleased that Odette had managed to figure out that Baku didn't have an 'inside voice'. "Aiden is going to be difficult to quiet after spending time with him, I think." Drake chuckled, nodding again. Their son was blinking at the play, but Sabin was leaning forwards to whisper to him. From what Drake was able to hear, he was making up a story that was bound to be more interesting to the four-year-old than the actual play.

As Baku walked into the back of the stage and out of sight, Ruby came out of a door by the stairs and climbed them up onto what was supposed to be a parapet. Drake had the feeling that they'd put more effort into the stage this time around because they wanted to actually perform, instead of cover up a kidnapping.

'Princess Cornelia' called out to her lover on top of the parapet just as someone dressed in a heavy cloak stepped out of the same door Ruby had. Drake covered his grin with his hand, jiggling one of his legs to keep from giggling to himself. He was in on the secret, but he was one of the few that were. The two actors embraced, Cornelia talking loudly. Drake normally wouldn't have watched this play, it was pretty sappy for his tastes, but he had made a promise to be there. Besides, it was Dagger's favorite play. He was surprised by how little he recognized 'Marcus's voice, though.

"I swear, if that play I heard was being written about us is this sappy, I will strangle the writer," Odette whispered to Drake, and he snorted before he was able to control himself. He could all but feel the glares of the people behind him. Odette's grin told him that it was the reaction she was hoping for, though. Drake blinked as Blank swaggered onstage, and rolled his eyes at his fellow Chosen. Blank must have been nervous, because he was over-acting to a hilarious degree, or just plain wasn't taking it seriously. Either could have been the case with him. The punch was actually rather convincing, though.

Most of the group that had adventured together were telling jokes to each other during the play, mostly to amuse themselves. Drake wasn't surprised that Sabin was making his made-up play more interesting partially to amuse himself. The plays enjoyed by the Mist Continent took themselves far too seriously for his tastes. It made him wonder if he would have liked Shakespeare any if he'd bothered to read any of it back on Earth.

Blank's 'death' scene came and went, and was just as hilariously bad as his acting. Sabin's version of the scene had Blank banished to a realm of eternal shorelines, with angry selkies. Aiden had latched onto selkies as being the scariest possible thing, and had to be told multiple times that they only showed up by the seashore before he'd go anywhere near a body of water after being told a story about them.

Finally, the scene that Drake had been waiting patiently for arrived. Next to him, Sabin was explaining why the stage had two moons in the background instead of only one, and was called a liar for claiming that there had ever been more than one moon. People all around them were covering up laughter at it, but Drake could see the stress around their eyes at it. The tides were only just settling down into a predictable pattern.

"So, the sun is our enemy, too. The eastern sky grows bright." 'Marcus' ignored Cinna's warning that the 'ship' was leaving. "Will we not spread our wings, as yonder birds in joyous flight?" The 'birds' were on sticks held up by a stagehand laying flat on the parapet. As Marcus's soliloquy continued, one of them fell with a clatter. "Could she have betrayed me? Nay, ne'er would my love speak false. I must have faith! She shall appear if I only believe! As the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons! I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!" Drake's grin grew as 'Marcus' threw off his cloak, turning to face the audience with one hand outstretched towards the royal balcony. The look on Zidane's face was hopeful.

"Bring my beloved Dagger to me!" Most of the audience gasped at the change in the lines, and more than one of the adventurers had to stifle laughter. Odette was going red in the face, she was trying to keep from giggling so hard. Judging by the ruckus on the royal balcony, though, Drake had a feeling that amusement was not the emotion that Queen Garnet was feeling.

Sure enough, she came pushing her way through the audience to the front of the stage in just a moment, tossing aside her crown and throwing herself into Zidane's arms. Drake stood with a slight groan and stretched, feeling his muscles protest sitting in such an uncomfortable seat for so long. People were clapping as Zidane and Dagger embraced, and Edgar slipped up to the front row, the queen's circlet and pendant in his hands.

"Wow, she's actually punching him. Guess she was pissed." Drake glanced over his shoulder at his blood brother and chuckled. He could barely hear Edgar over the cheers. "I guess my threat to marry her if he didn't come back worked." Drake snorted at that, and took Aiden back from Sabin.

"Pretty sure he'd have come back even if you hadn't made that threat." Zidane turned his head to look at them, and Drake waved with his free hand, not bothering trying to hide his grin. "Why don't you kiss her? You've made the poor woman wait long enough," he shouted, ignoring the scandalized sounds the nobles a couple of rows back were making. Zidane just laughed and gave Dagger a peck on the lips.

It was pretty much impossible to get the play back into order, but no one seemed to really mind. Drake was rather glad that he no longer had to sit and pretend to be showing an interest in a play that he really didn't care for. Most of the nobles wandered off.

"I'm going to go take Aiden to the gardens before he decides to start screeching for it," Drake whispered to Odette, and she nodded before turning her attention back to Dagger. Drake set their son on the ground and following him as he meandered around. As he did, he glanced around, thinking a bit about how the culture of the nobles had managed to change in the past five years.

Thanks to his and Odette's influence, many of the styles were reminiscent of Caledonia. Even Queen Garnet was wearing a dress in the latest style, what would have been called a regency style dress on Earth, according to Odette. It certainly made Drake more comfortable, seeing men wear decent trousers instead of puffy pantaloons that made him think of diapers. The fabric was still about the same as it had been back when Drake was first made a duke, but he was pretty sure that the clans were a bit leery about interacting with the people of the Mist Continent still anyhow.

"Papa, papa look!" Drake blinked down at Aiden as he waved something in the air, trotting back to him as fast as his little legs could carry him. Drake blinked a little and crouched so that he was on his son's level. "Look what the stone man gave me!" Drake tilted his head to the side a little and accepted the little sheathed knife that his son was holding. In his pudgy little hands it looked more like a sword.

Almost immediately, he could tell that it was a Stellazio, and frowned a little at it. He unsheathed the little blade and squinted at the inscription on the blade. It might have been another language for how little he was able to understand it, but he put it back in its sheath before looking up.

A man stood on the far side of the garden they had walked to nodded to him, arms crossed. Drake blinked, and tilted his head to the side as the man faded into the stone wall behind him, not unlike how Cleyra had into the tree named after her. He sighed a little and looked back to his son.

"Well, that just changed a few things. I'll hold onto this for you until you get old enough you don't hurt yourself, alright, Aiden? It's still yours, I'm just making sure you don't get hurt." Aiden pouted as Drake tucked the knife into his belt, but reached up to ask to be carried. Drake obliged, and groaned a little as he straightened up holding him. "Ohh, you're starting to get a little too big to carry." Aiden whined, and Drake jiggled him a little before starting to walk. "Come on, let's go find Mama."

The rest of their group was in a private parlor that a servant had to direct Drake and Aiden to. Drake set Aiden down to let him go charging over towards his mother. Drake himself walked over to Beatrix and Steiner, who were talking quietly in a corner of the room. Beatrix noticed him first and smiled in greeting.

"You look like you've been running on little sleep," Steiner said, sounding amused. Drake sighed a bit at that and rubbed at his head before pulling the Stellazio his son had been given from his belt before handing it to Beatrix. "Eh, what's that?"

"A Stellazio that was given to Aiden by, I suspect, Alexander. He's a bit young to start training, though." Beatrix frowned a bit at that but looked closely over the belt knife. "I can't say I wasn't expecting one of the Constellato to take an interest in my kids, but not quite so young..." Beatrix chuckled a little.

"You'll have time to figure out who you want to train him, though." She handed the belt knife back to him, and he put it away in his belt. "Without there being any dark knights, though, I doubt he'll end up a paladin like me." Drake nodded a little to that and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I know there's plenty of time...Just a little stressed about it is all." Steiner chuckled a little and clapped him on the shoulder. It was still odd to Drake, seeing him not wearing his armor. "I guess it's normal for being a parent, though."

"I think right now it's mostly because he's an adventurous boy and there's lots of people around that you aren't entirely sure of in the castle." Drake sighed at that and rubbed at his eyes. "At least you aren't trying to raise him alone." That got another sigh out of Drake.

"I don't know if Odette and I could manage without anyone else. Acacia's been more help than I had anticipated. I think the new baby's going to just add to the workload, though. Here I'd actually enjoyed getting some sleep each night," he joked. Steiner seemed to take a few moments before he realized it was a joke.

"I dunno, I think Baku was considering stealing him away to make him part of the troupe," Zidane joked as he walked over. Drake turned to lift an eyebrow at him, and blinked as he saw that Zidane had changed out of the clothes he'd been wearing onstage.

"I think Baku would end up wrapped around Aiden's finger. He didn't seem to mind bouncing him on his knee when I found Aiden on the bridge earlier." Zidane laughed at that. "I wonder if he's realized he's acting like a grandfather..." That got Zidane to snort.

"He might. It's not like Odette's parents are still around, so he may have unofficially adopted her as well as you." Drake shrugged a little and turned his head to see Dagger looking over at them. Drake waved with a small smile, and she looked away, blushing. "So..." Zidane's grin faded a little as Drake's grew. "I'm guessing you won't be spending the night on the Prima Vista." Zidane went bright red as Steiner snickered. Even Beatrix looked amused.

"W-well you aren't, either," Zidane blustered, looking away from them. Beatrix and Steiner started to turn red, they were trying to keep from laughing so hard. Drake had a hard time controlling his laughter, so it took him a while to respond.

"I'm not the one that's interested in the queen," he retorted, finally getting his giggles under control. "Also, I made sure that people were aware that I was coming. There's already a room for me and Odette prepared for us." Zidane looked like he was about to pass out, he was so red.

"Dear, do you really have to tease your brother so much?" Drake turned as Odette spoke up behind him, and he hooked an arm around her waist before planting a kiss on her cheek. Zidane rubbed at his face, though there were others that were slowly walking over to see what was going on.

"Of course I do. He knew that I was going to tease him when he agreed to be my blood brother, he'd seen me tease Sab and Ed. And he knows how much I teased Sab when he and Aoife got handfasted." Zidane groaned a little at that, finally getting his blush under control.

"I promised her I'd come back," Zidane said, not looking at anyone. Drake tilted his head to the side at that and looked at Odette, who also looked unconvinced. Steiner was frowning at Zidane, and Beatrix shook her head at him, still smiling. "So of course I did."

"That's not what you were worrying about on the way here," Drake reminded him, smirking. "You were far more concerned with the possibility that she may have fallen in love with someone else." He turned his head a bit more, and his smile grew.

"Well, I certainly didn't." Zidane jumped as Dagger spoke, his face going red. Drake could hear Edgar laughing from the other side of the room, and when he looked over, his blood brother was looking over at their group. "Not for want of other people trying to get my attention, though." Zidane blinked at that, and Dagger smiled a little.

"We all expected that, though. You're the monarch of a country, and there's always someone trying to grab power however they can." Dagger nodded, and smiled at Drake. "I've lost track of how many young noblemen I had to inform that you were not a woman that could be fooled into loving someone who didn't love her back after overhearing their plans to seduce you." Odette rolled her eyes at that, and Dagger sighed.

"That didn't stop many of them from trying, though." Zidane scowled at that, and Drake hid a smile. Aiden screeched from across the room, which automatically got his attention, and he sighed as he saw Acacia trying to reason with him.

"I think it's time for Aiden's nap. He's getting grumpy." Odette nodded, and Drake kissed her on the cheek. "I'll go put him to bed. Acacia could use a break." Odette smiled fondly at him before turning her attention back to the conversation that had restarted with Zidane and Dagger.

Aiden screamed at the top of his lungs the entire way to their rooms, getting attention as Drake patiently withstood his kicks and wriggles. Servants stepped out of their way as they passed, but they looked more amused than concerned. They'd seen Drake delivering his son to the nursery to take a nap before.

The four-year-old seemed to run out of energy once they reached the room, though, and Drake adjusted him on his hip before opening the door. A servant looked up, startled from her task of ironing out some clothes to hang them up, until she saw Aiden. Drake smiled a little at her before walking into the nursery that was attached to the room he and Odette used whenever they visited the castle.

"D'you want the puppy or the kitty?" Aiden reached for the puppy plush that his grandmother had sewn for him as Drake paused by the table the two toys were sitting on, and Drake handed it to him. Aiden tucked the ear of the toy into his mouth, sucking on it as Drake tugged the sheets of the trundle bed down before setting his son on it.

Aiden yawned and wriggled under the blankets as Drake ran his fingers through Aiden's hair, wincing a little at some of the stickiness he felt. Aiden had gotten something like jam into his hair, he was sure. Regardless, he hummed a lullaby that his mother on earth had sung to him when he was younger. He couldn't remember the words, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't ever forget the melody.

"Papa..." Aiden whined a little, and Drake tilted his head at him, lifting his eyebrows. "Can you teach me how to use the bow tomorrow?" Drake chuckled a bit at that. Someone amongst the Tantalus troupe must have been telling him stories about Drake when he had started to use the bow.

"If you want. I think you're going to end up better with the sword than your Papa, though." Aiden pouted up at him, but fell asleep before he was able to protest that. Drake leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before settling the blanket over him and getting up.

He paused at the door, looking back at his son, and smiled to himself. "I think Cecil was right. Most of the Chosen for the next several generations are going to be our descendants, Odette." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the jam off of his hand onto it and gently closed the door behind him. He had a party to get back to and a blood brother to tease until he finally told Dagger how he felt.

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 **End Notes:** It kind of feels like forever since I actually started this story. I've improved my writing by a LOT. It feels a little like closing a chapter on my life, but it's not like I'm gonna stop writing. It's too big a part of who I am.


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